Two Worlds of a Hero
by Nako13yeh
Summary: After capturing Loki, a strange anomaly happens. Transporting the Helicarrier and everyone inside it into a different world. Trapped in our universe where they exist as mere characters, the Avengers and Loki must discover a way back home but they have to overcome obstacles first before they could return. Those obstacles meaning their future, Thanos and everything in that universe.
1. Chapter 1 - No longer at home

**This request challenge came from lovely "Mira SeverusSirius Black-Snape" who was the first to request it to me, followed by another lovely person named "camitake." I do hope that you enjoy this story as much as you enjoyed my other stories. **

**Title:** Two worlds of a Hero  
**Author:** Nako13yeh  
**(**Credit to title goes to my friend "_John Leo Sama_"**)****  
Disclaimer: **_I do not own any of the characters, videos, show or movies of the Avengers. I am only using them to entertain this story I have come up with._

**Summary: **After capturing Loki, a strange anomaly happens. Transporting the Helicarrier into a different world. Trapped in our universe where they exist as mere characters, the Avengers must discover a way back home but they have to overcome obstacles.

**Author's Notes: **Some characters I will be using are from my story "Cross Reality." Because I bend down to the rules in Fanfic and so names are changed. However I stand by what I have said before in my Cross reality fic.

**ALL CHARACTERS are fictional, all similarities are purely coincidental. Enjoy guys, this is all for you~**

* * *

**~.~Two worlds of a Hero~.~**

* * *

**oOo**

_If it's all the same to you, I'll have that drink now. _

At long last they had finally managed to subdue Loki and place him back in a cell, this time with the proper restrains to hold him down. A muzzle prevented him from speaking and a tricked out handcuff from Stark himself held his hands in place.

They gave no room for pity because of the countless people who died in the invasion. Loki was left inside his new cell, trapped with metal walls and the only thing decorating it was the bed he sat on. Loki's whole demeanor had changed and they all saw it.

His defeated form and moments of confusion was all but noticeable. But that was only momentarily, by the time they had gotten to him, his mask of indifference came into play and shielded his emotions from the world.

They would have to break that somehow while he was still here.

Once that was through, the Avengers were all given time to clean up and rest. A new day had passed and the Avengers had all gathered inside the main deck where the magic happens throughout the Helicarrier for a little brief meeting.

It was the place where they monitored the entire ship and its technology. It had been a tiresome few days for all of them but at least it was over.

Or at least, that's what they think.

The fun never ends after all, and where there is order, chaos is bound to follow.

They had saved the city from being invaded by aliens. They had destroyed the remaining Chitauri running about, and Shield had begun to rethink their plans about _Phase 2 _and using the tesseract as a weapon.

For now, they had junked the idea.

Knowing that it was already useless to try and tamper with it more because they knew the damage it caused was no joke.

Of course, they had the tesseract secured in a very tight location now, not to be touched or seen by anyone who doesn't hold a clearance level of authority. Once they had it secured and guarded heavily, they settled for a break.

They had not only gotten the tesseract as a prize for their victory but got new things out of it as well. Like their new growing friendship with each other.

After all, they had worked together to save the world despite the strange circumstances.

Not only did they acquire the tesseract back in their possession, won the world and saved countless others, but had also gotten back a valuable teammate that was lost and taken from the beginning of the chaos.

For Natasha's sake, she had been reunited with her partner again.

And for Fury's sake, he had gotten a great Agent back from being mind controlled and was now settling back to his normal life, or at least that's what they think. And Clint was doing his best to face all the problems that happened that he himself, helped cause.

It was a new step to overcome something.

Tony bit back the realization of monsters and magic and dared not to think about it for the time being. He hid his emotion as best as he could, because what difference would it make to try and control it when you have yet to decide what emotions you truly hold.

Steve and Bruce adjusted quite fine in this world and nothing seemed to trouble them. Thor however, tried his best not to take pity on his brother's injured state. Once they had built a proper machine, they would be able to activate the tesseract safely and send Thor and Loki home.

For now the Earth was safe.

For the meantime, of course, until another threat happens to attack them.

It was safe.

These troublesome few days for the Avengers had taken its toll on them and so, they decided to just hang back and relax. They sat together inside the Helicarrier, discussing what they were going to do now that it's finally over. It was safe to say that they were getting along rather well.

"Am I free to get back to whatever is left of my tower?" Tony rumbled. "How long until we lay low exactly and the chaos dies down?"

"Just until Dr. Selvig finishes the containment of the tesseract." Fury replied. "Once it is done, then you are free to leave, Mr. Stark."

"Of course." Tony rolled his eyes.

"Don't worry, Stark." Natasha crossed her arms. "I'm sure there's still something left in your building that you could recover."

"I want to actually start from scratch, Agent Romanov- Have Pepper do some changes to it."

"Why don't you?" Clint raised his eyebrows.

"I will or I might." He shrugs. "I'm not sure yet but Pepper will be back from DC and I'll be ready for it. I'm gonna take time off alright. Like hell I wanna get back to being Iron man again after this whole fiasco. Right Bird brain?"

"I prefer being called Barton or Hawkeye, Stark." He nonchalantly stared. "And what makes you think you'll be pulled out for a super hero business anyways?"

"Whatever."

"What is Dr. Selvig doing?" Bruce asked, noticing the absence of the man.

Thor turned to them, obviously listening in on their conversation.

"He's monitoring the tesseract and trying to figure out a way to make a container for it. To help with Thor and Loki's return for Asgard." Fury said. "You'll be called in when you're needed Dr. Banner."

"Called in?"

"Yes. You and Stark. You have the capabilities to help Dr. Selvig with the project but for the time being he's just monitoring the condition of the tesseract to see if it's stable enough to work with again."

"Isn't it stable?" Clint wondered.

"I thought we shut it down with Loki's scepter." Natasha quirked an eyebrow.

"We aren't sure. It's been tampered way too much since Loki and the Chitauri. Our best bet is to have Dr. Selvig and the other scientists examine it further. Which is why I don't have the rest of you Avengers down there. It's critical that it be tested first before a container is placed on it. It's only been a day since we captured Loki, so it's still pretty much activated."

"Why wasn't I called for that anyways?" Tony piped up. "I mean naming the clean energy business with my arc reactor."

He pointed out his chest proudly.

"I had my reasons and I have one now." Fury mocked. "I'd like it to be a clean sweep of testing. No games and experiments. And I know how you like experimenting on things, Mr. Stark. Not only that, but I don't want Dr. Banner to _Hulk out _while he's down there."

"Touche Eye Patch."

"I have to ask." Steve raised his hands, which only caused Tony to snort. "Why can't Loki do some time here on Earth to pay for his crimes? I think the people may want justice handed down to him."

"He will." Thor turned to them, tiredly. "Asgardian Justice."

"I still don't think it will work out." Steve voiced out.

"And what justice would that be exactly?" Fury asked, wanting to be convinced. "I don't suppose Loki will pay for the damages he's done once he goes through your kind of justice, right?"

"The tesseract belongs to our world and not only that, but so is my brother." Thor exclaimed. "No matter what means of trial you may place upon him, it will not be enough. Your cells could only hold him here for long. Your lives are short, but not ours."

"Okay big guy." Tony said. "We get your point. You're immortal."

"We _can _die but through rougher means."

"Say that I agree." Fury interrupted. "I don't suppose this would ensure Earth's safety."

"It will." Thor's voice cracked of uncertainty. "You have me as your ally but not only that but you have your people to defend yourselves with. But no matter, I will return when I can. I will make sure Loki does not cause more trouble. I give you my word."

"Let's say this plays out." Clint tapped his foot on the ground. "What kind of justice waits him there?"

"I know not. It is up to my Father and the council."

"Let's just leave it to him then." Natasha leaned back. "I don't suppose we have problems with letting Thor go with the tesseract, and Loki. It's caused enough trouble in this planet just by being fished out from the ocean."

"It should have been left in the ocean." Steve told her. "What other problems would rise up?"

"The council." Agent Hill spoke up and repeated. "The council. They may be a problem."

"Damn your council." Tony flailed his arms. "They freaking sent a nuke that almost killed me and everyone else! I sacrificed my ass for the greater good."

"And the greater good thanks you." Fury shook his head at Stark.

Tony would never admit that the sheer terror of being in space had gotten to him, but he might as well address it; seeing to it that it was important to the team. He wasn't sure if the fear was still coming at him but he'll have to deal with it later on.

Oh New York.

Nothing will be the same again, won't it?

How terribly amazing is that?

When you think about it, the events that would soon play out will turn into the biggest adventure they have or the most terrifying nightmare they can't wake up from. Back to the point, they still had to control the situation as best as they could.

That meant Fury.

"We have _that _to deal with." Fury cocked his head. "But I'll handle the council and whatever they throw at me. I think I already have a speech handed out to them that will put them in place. Just in case they make the same mistake in sending out another nuke."

Tony agreed.

"What about me?" Bruce raised his head. "I don't suppose I'll be caged this time around. Will I?"

"You've done your job, Dr. Banner. We're not going to hold your stay here any longer."

"You can come with me." Tony offered. "Like I said, I'd love to work with you on a few things. It'll be cool."

"I'll think about it." Bruce twiddled his fingers. "Thanks."

"No prob." Tony gave him a thumbs up. "Always want your best interest at heart, Banner."

And Bruce couldn't help but smile at the kindness he was given.

Just as they thought things would get better, Selvig came storming through the door with other heavily shielded Agents following not far behind.

His heavy eyelids threatened to drop as he seemed to be working non-stop and was just as tired as the rest of them. With him being the one who helped create interplanetary war or whatever. He stood there, as he caught breath...

"Dr?" Natasha narrowed her eyes.

"Something's happened." He cried out, clearly out of breath. "The tesseract."

"What about it?" Fury wondered.

"It's strange and downright absurd. I had to get up here to tell you in person. The air down where the tesseract is, is getting thicker and harder to breath in. None of us could go near it."

"Thick air?" Tony muttered.

"What is wrong?" Thor cocked an eyebrow. "I do not understand, nobody is taking hold of the tesseract."

"She's behaving horribly this time around, Thor. It's strange. Not like before. It's different."

"What's the matter Dr. Selvig?" Fury questioned while the whole team listened in. "We had that place secured. Nobody else could get their hands on it."

"Is it Loki?" Steve asked.

"No, it's not him." Agent Hill replied. "We have him on full security and lock down."

"What is he doing?" Thor asked.

"He's... asleep." Clint said from his seat as he pulled up a screen on the table.

It showed Loki inside his cell, laying on the bed. His eyes closed and his breathing somewhat erratic but he was asleep. Nobody else questioned Loki's tiredness as they all got back to the real situation. Something that didn't have to do with Loki this time around.

Selvig stood there completely off his game.

The other Agents seem the same as well.

"Did you check it again?" Bruce asked. "Any Gamma radition it's emitting?"

"Kind of. The tesseract is acting out again and it's not shutting down." Selvig said, as he tried his best to explain. "It's giving out bursts of energy and thickening the air. Your Agents locked the lab for the time being, just to get it to clear out. It's not opening a portal, that much I can assure you."

"The doors. It can be opened and closed." Clint spoke out. "Are you sure nobody is trying to get in like last time?"

"I'm sure of it. She's reacting badly. Behaving the worst of conditions. Like she doesn't want to be touched. The other scientists can't trace the abnormality in the tesseract or any other interference. It's just reacting to something."

"Reacting to what exactly?" Natasha pondered on it.

"That's just it." Selvig shrugged. "We can't find what it's reacting to. It's like a ghostly reaction. It's there but it's not."

"Director Fury."

One of the shield Agents called his attention and patterned out a screen on their table.

The Avengers looked at it with curiosity and it caused Selvig to come closer. It showed energy readings all around the Helicarrier and the abnormality of its reaction that surrounded it.

"What is this Agent?"

"Fluctuations from the Helicarrier, Sir. We can't find the source, it's interrupting our signals and channeling out our readings. We can't explain it."

"Is the tesseract causing this?" Tony asked in panic.

"Sir! Energy readings are spiking up!" Another Agent shouted.

"Find the source." Agent Hill commanded. "I want all who aren't manning the ship to search the area and find out where the energy is coming from."

"Negative." An Agent cried out.

"What do you mean Negative? I gave you an order." Agent Hill walked up to the other Agent to see what was going on. "What is this?"

"That's just it, our systems aren't working. They're blacking out. Rebooting itself."

"Hill?" Fury questioned. "Anything?"

"No clue, Sir. There's no damage to the system, it's just being interrupted."

"I can't get Jarvis to get a reading." Tony pressed his eyebrows together as he held his Stark phone in one hand. He wanted to throw it so badly because it was useless. "What the hell is going on?"

"Director Fury, the power is down in level 13 continuing on through levels 15 and 18."

"Level 13." Natasha stood up. "That's where Loki is."

"The power is back online." Agent Hill said. "The Fluctuations are continuing to interrupt our systems but all doors remain closed and intact. No security threat. The prisoner is still caged and I don't think he's the one doing this.."

"What is going on?" Clint grit his teeth. "Why is this happening so suddenly?"

"I don't know Clint, this is different." Natasha frowned. "It's nothing we've experienced before."

"Whatever it is, the tesseract is reacting to it." Selvig mentioned. "The tesseract however, isn't behind this."

"In front of us!"

One Agent shouted and everyone turned to the window in front.

A huge wormhole appeared out in the open as it began to suck them all in. Fury immediately maned his station and began calling out orders to get out of the way. The Avengers were practically useless at this point, for there was nothing they could do but watch.

The whole Helicarrier was moving around the place, like an Earthquake and it caused for everyone inside the ship to hold on for dear life as they got sucked into it slowly.

"Einstein Rosen Bridge?" Selvig muttered incoherently. _"A doorway to another end in space. It's not possible."_

_Two points in space and it creates a pathway._

"You don't think this is a traversable wormhole, do you?" Bruce said to Selvig as he clung to his chair.

"If so, it can be crossed from both sides."

Selvig had tried to see what was happening and so was Thor, who had a slight vague idea on what was happening with what they were talking about.

"I do not like this, Friends!" Thor had let Mjolnir take his weight.

"Is it just me or is that a black hole?" Tony breathed out. "If so I think I'm going insane."

"It's not just you, Stark." Natasha's eyes widened.

"Dr. Banner!" Steve said. "How are you holding up?"

"I can't believe it. A wormhole..." Bruce muttered as he watched the scene unfold. "I'm... I'm alright. I won't Hulk out."

"Brace yourselves!" Fury shouted.

Before they knew it, the darkness had swallowed them whole.

* * *

**oOo**

It had been a day since they had captured him. The look of Thor's face pained Loki so much and he could barely remember anything that happened. He tried to recall the events and soon, they were coming into play one by one.

His emotions had gotten the better of him.

Loki clung on the sheets as sweat trickled down his face. The horrors he had done, and the realization to go along with it.

_You think this madness will end in your rule?_

No.

No it wouldn't have.

It would be made worse because it wasn't his to rule.

It was _his. _

His so called... master.

Loki shook the thoughts away. Loki felt sleep overwhelm him, fatigue ran through his body and that wave of tiredness clung to him.

What point was there to keep fighting when they (The Avengers) had already won?

After all, Loki was away from those horrid creatures called the Chitauri and it seemed like the Avengers were the lesser of two evils, if you could call them evil.

Loki thought it was probably one of the most peaceful days he'd been given this past year. Too bad it would have all changed had it not felt like he'd jinxed it.

As he was put in that cell, he lazily grown used to being in one, he just gave up.

Tired of the walls restricting him.

Loki would almost chuckle as he thought about the situations where he had been placed in a cell and will not be the one in control of his actions.

How many times has that happened to him already in these past two years?

His fall on the Bifrost caused him to reach insanity, to be broken and broken again by another, then cast into a cell. Only to be left to his thoughts and cast to a world, then trapped to another.

Lies, deceit, pain and suffering had all but surrounded him already.

How ironic was that?

Loki lay back and shut his eyes tight but the moments did not last long.

Loki hadn't realize the wave of dizziness he was feeling. It felt like he had managed to sleep for a few good hours but when he had open his eyes to see the surrounding; his room was shaking slightly.

_"The lights.."_

The lights had been going on and off and Loki felt panic rise on his chest.

_"What is going on?" _He had never felt so trapped from the world around him.

The crashing sounds and shouts of Agents trying to brace themselves on something could be heard from inside his cell.

Loki stood up from the bed to come closer to the door only to feel a jerk or pull that resulted of him crashing to the floor next to the door. His metal shackles sounded as it hit. Loki tried to stand up but the jerk erupted again, causing him to loose his footing as he slid down to the side of the room.

Why was his room tilting?!

Another jerk caused Loki to slide to the other side, only to have himself stop, from hitting it, as he stomped the wall with his foot.

_"By Odin's beard!" _Loki grabbed the bed and clung tightly to it. _"What is happening outside?" _

Loki thought that there was probably malfunctions in their flying fortress but that quickly went away when Loki felt a dizzying spell hit him again.

It caused him to groan.

_"No. No. What is happening?" _Loki thought as his footing slipped again. _"Something strange is causing this. Bu-But what?"_

The Helicarrier was flying rather badly and it was causing objects to twist and turn in all directions. Loki sat there clinging to the edge of the bed as the inside earthquakes continued to pour out.

And soon, Loki's thoughts went to the tesseract.

_"By the Norns! What nonsense is this?"_ Loki could only think of the possible situation that was happening.

They weren't in control of the ship anymore and everything went blank.

_Darkness._

* * *

**oOo**

When they awoke, their bodies protested and their heads throbbed. Each and everyone got back up to their feet to man their controls and was glad that the ship was on automatic and had flown its normal course using auto-pilot.

"Check everything." Fury grumbled. "I want eyes and ears everywhere to see what the hell happened that we didn't see that coming!"

"Everything is stable, Sir." An Agent said.

"The tesseract?" He turned to Selvig and in that moment the speakers blared and one Agent managed to confirm that the tesseract was shut off.

"Sir, there's something wrong." Hill said. "The time we have on the Helicarrier is different from the time we have here on Earth. And we're in New York, Sir."

"How the hell did we get over New York?" Fury wondered.

"I think it was because of that wormhole." Bruce told them. "Are you sure we're still on _our _Earth? Because a wormhole could mean that we traveled a different world or something similar."

"So we're like Star wars?" Tony asked. "Or whatever?"

"It could happen." Selvig said. "You have to check everything to confirm it's _our _world. Many things could go wrong and we can't even explain how this had happened. A wormhole is so rare and let alone have it here on earth."

"We are not in our world." Thor muttered.

Natasha and Clint heard it loud and clear and they ended up turning to each other. They questioned each other with their gaze and decided to leave it for a while. Maybe Thor would speak up sooner than later. The god seemed lost and in thought and it was best that they don't disturb him at the moment.

Tony was sitting on his chair as he skimmed through readings from the wormhole while Banner and Selvig were busy trying to figure out what the hell was going on.

Steve was just doing his best to understand.

The other Agents inside the main room were doing all they could to help figure things out. They searched through and through what the difference was after entering the portal or wormhole in order to get a specific theory handed down.

They hacked everything they could until they finally had a break through.

"Director Fury." One Agents said. "We found something strange to confirm our suspicions."

"What's that?"

"We can confirm that we're indeed in New York, but Sir-" The Agent hesitated.

"What is it?"

"None of us exist here."

Everyone inside the room was silenced and fear clawed at them. They weren't sure what was happening exactly and the mere thought of not existing, frightened them. The Avengers eyed each other one last time before a brace soul decided to end the silence.

"How the hell is that possible?" Clint questioned.

"Clint-" Natasha warned.

"Come on Nat, I get the whole god, alien and shit stuff but... Sure, we're spies and all. But we have records on us that are hidden and not only that but the whole world knows who Tony Stark is. And Thor- he's him!"

"Thank you for pointing that out, Agent Barton." Tony rolled his eyes.

"I'm being serious, Stark. This isn't to be taken lightly. No records, not even you."

"Clint is right." Natasha said. "This means something. What else did you find?"

"We found the Avengers but..." The Agent hesitated again.

"But what?" Fury glared. "Spit it out."

"They're just characters from a comic book and movie, Sir."

"Wait..." Steve raised an eyebrow. "What does that mean?"

"It means, Captain." Fury turned to him. "We're not in our world anymore."

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**TBC...  
**

**Please tell me what you think and if you want me to continue. :)  
**

**Reviews fuel me to write faster, so even a tiny review is appreciated.**


	2. Chapter 2 - Catching up with the world

**Oh, I just want to address this issue, because there are still some who are sending me messages in my **_"Cross Reality"_** fanfic, that I ruined the names of the Actors. I just want to point out that I changed their names on purpose so that the story won't be deleted. Hopefully, some already understood that, because their names will also be used in this fic. xD**

******Anyways, Thank you for the lovely reviews.**

* * *

**oOo **

"How is it possible that we don't exist in this world?" Tony breathed.

"It is possible." Bruce said. "There are numerous kinds of different timelines. All in which something connects it. This is a possible alternate world where we're just fictional to them, whereas we're real to us."

"I'm still having a hard time understanding this." Steve shook his head.

"This is truly possible." Thor told them. "This has been understood by my people before, but never tampered with. There are such things as dimensional travels and such that you mortals have theorized."

"Impressive." Tony thought.

"Can we get back to our world?" Natasha turned.

"It's possible for the wormhole to re-open again." Selvig said. "But we have to search for the energy readings similar to the ones before. If so, we could actually catch the fly back home, but it's dangerous. We won't know for sure where it will lead us."

"Can the Tesseract be used to focus on it?" Fury wondered.

"Yeah like a door." Clint said.

"What is it with you and doors?" Tony teased and Clint ignored him.

"It is possible, but the tesseract is still in the testing phase." Selvig muttered. "Remember?"

"We may need someone's help for this." Thor regrettably answered.

Every one of the Avengers stared at Thor, who stood awkwardly. As much as he wished to help his friends with the situation, he couldn't.

Mostly because he had little to none knowledge about this. He was too busy trying to focus on his battles that he ignored the importance of studying if he ever encountered such events. And only one person came to mind, and the only person who was inside the Helicarrier as well, is the only one who could answer their questions.

"Are you saying you have someone in the Helicarrier that knows about this stuff?" Hill crossed her arms. "If so, that can be great news."

"You will not like who I am planning to suggest."' Thor frowned.

"I think I already have a clue." Natasha crossed her arms. "I'm not sure about this, Thor."

"I'm not going to like this, am I?" Clint sighed, looking away.

"It is my brother." Thor said. "Loki."

"No way in hell!" Tony blurted out. "He threw me out of a goddamn window. That's a no for me."

"You think he'll help us after what happened?" Fury scoffed, looking into the idea itself.

"I am not saying that you put your trust on my brother, after what happened." Thor sighed. "But if we come to a dire situation, perhaps he could offer us help. After all, he is also stuck in this world with us."

"Delaying the inevitable." Bruce muttered. "His trial."

"Aye. It will do no good to delay it."

"We'll see, Thor." Fury scowled. "But first, we need to focus on what's happening now. All the Agents not assigned to man the ship, I want every information you could find about all of us. Anything to get a better sight on what is in this world!"

"Try YouTube."

Tony spoke up and everyone inside the main room looked at him questioningly. Tony rolled his eyes and began punching out buttons on the table and shot one screen to the main screen in the middle of the room for all to see.

"You said this isn't our world and we're just movie characters and comics and stuff." He wiggled his finger. "If so, then some of the information we need is in a video site. Hmm?"

"He has a point." Natasha cocked her head.

"You're welcome."

"Fine. Let's dig up on some information." Fury said. "What can you find about the Avengers?"

"Just a sec." Tony began typing. "Hey, why don't the rest of you start typing out what you wanna see. You can help out too Thor. Anything at all."

"I don't understand." Thor frowned, unable to grasp midgardian technology.

"Leave it to them." Steve sighed. "It's okay Thor, I don't understand half the things that are happening here too."

"I'll show the two of you so we can speed some of the search." Bruce smiled, allowing him some time to try and help out these new _strange_ friends.

Bruce had to admit, that the more hours he spent with these people, the more he became accustomed to them. Even if they barely knew each other, they did fight with one another and that wasn't something you can easily take away from their memory.

_Man out of time. _The super soldier.

_A genius, stubborn iron man._ Tony Stark.

_Assassins._ Shield Agents.

_A god. _An alien from another realm.

Bruce shook the thoughts off and allowed himself some calmness, he patiently and quickly taught Thor and Steve the basics and in no time the two were already searching what they can and what they want to.

"I have a feeling I'm not going to like this." Clint shook his head, sliding his finger on the screen, searching and scowling at the information.

"There's a lot of things you don't like." Natasha rolled her eyes, doing the same.

"I know, one of the reasons that I don't like it."

"It's good to have you back, Clint."

"Good to be back." Clint gave her another glance, but she was already busy doing her own work.

He shrugged it off, because deep inside, he knew she was still struggling after being compromised and it wasn't easy dealing with this kind of crap. Clint knew all too well the destruction it can cause someone.

Especially if that someone is his partner.

_You're a spy, not a soldier. _

It was true, both of them were assassins at best. Not someone who goes to war and saves the world, they were in it for the job, not really for the people.

But things have changed, haven't they?

_I've been compromised... _In more ways than one.

Each of them were curious on what they want to find, if this is another world as they think it is, then that means they have counterparts in it as well. Which only meant double the interesting things that they could play with.

* * *

**oOo **

Fury turned to Agent Hill and pulled her to a corner, near one of the monitors. She immediately noticed that the information wasn't suppose to be for prying ears and she instinctively followed her boss. Hill still wasn't happy with the Avengers and she isn't sure if she will in the future but this was her job.

"Is there something you need to tell me, Sir?" She understood and stared at Director Fury in the eye, crossed arms and ready for duty.

"If we're not in our world, they may have information on _him._" Fury muttered, distressed. "Is there someway of preventing them from finding it? You can tell the other Agents to hack into the system and push them far away from the information as possible."

"I was way ahead of you, Sir." She frowned.

"Anything at all?"

"I doubt it." Hill sighed, looking at the Avengers. "We have no control over this world, even the way we hack into their systems, we can't do it."

"What do you mean?" Fury asked, clearly puzzled.

"On our world we have control of every information gathered around, but in this world, we have nothing. We're just like any other person who's in this world, who uses the internet. Even if some of the codes are similar, we can't access any personal files or listen in to any buzz going about."

"Then we're stuck at a dead end." Fury palmed his face.

"Let's just hope they don't search for _him._" Hill said. "It's bad enough that everything about us is on the internet. Even SHIELD is an active site for on-lookers."

"They're bound to find more than one secret."

"This world already has our secrets."

"Like hell if they want to know more of SHIELD, I'm concerned if they find him." He grunts. "What kind of explanation would you give to something like that?" Fury questioned.

"It's only been a day, Sir."

"Exactly." Fury huffed. "To hell with other concerns."

"If they do, with it being a level 7, it won't matter anymore." She said to him. "If they do find the courage to search about _him_, then we don't have a choice. The internet is free for all, Sir."

"No use getting so worked up then."

Hill turned and walked back to the others with Fury following behind.

"Anything at all?" Fury asked.

Clint and Natasha raised their hands and Natasha shrugged handing the stage over to Clint, who seemed to be taking things all too well. All eyes were on him now and everyone in the room seemed to be listening closely to what he was about to say.

"Nat and I found out about our counterparts." Clint explained. "Apparently we're all actors who starred or cameo'd in a movie."

"So it is true?" Thor wondered.

"That we're not on our world anymore? Possibly." He shrugged. "Going back, the first one was Iron man which is definitely Stark portrayed by a dude name Rob Devan. And the second Iron man came out with Nat in it, played a chick named Sharlotte."

"Sharlotte..." Steve muttered, earning a glare from Natasha.

"Moving on?" Bruce said. "What else does it say?"

"Thor went on by a guy named Chris Worth, and Tom Hiddles for Loki. Captain America, that's a guy named Evans. I cameo'd in Thor by a guy named Jeremiah. Then Avengers movie with Dr. Banner as Russo, Director Fury being a guy named Sam, Hill is Cobie and Coulson by Clark."

"That's the important stuff." Natasha leaned back on her chair.

"And they're all actors." Selvig sighed. "This is a lot to take in, isn't it?"

"And guess what." Clint frowns. "Look who's more famous than any of us at the moment."

Clint popped up a picture of Loki being in San Diego and they all cringe at the sight of him grinning, the audience big and he looked as if he was enjoying the time of his life.

He had a small microphone attached to the side, near his lips and it looked like he was addressing the people.

"Where did that come from?" Fury asked.

"It's a recent picture." Natasha said.

"Of what exactly?" Tony narrowed his eyes. "Him taking over San Diego?"

"Close enough. It was taken at a comic convention in San Diego, apparently there's a new movie called Thor: Dark world that they're promoting. Their special guest to introduce it was the actor, Tom playing as Loki to rile up the fans. They seem to like it. And it says here, fans had the time of their life."

"That's a first."

"There was an Iron man 3 though." Clint turned to Stark. "You happy that you got three goddamn movies?"

"What?" Tony smirked. "Are you jealous that you don't have one? Oh mister cameo?"

"Shut up."

"My brother is famous here?" Thor's eyes widened as he eyed the identical man portraying his brother, he would like to search on it later.

"He's one of the best villains as was said here." Natasha told Thor. "Well loved one, I guess. He makes a lot of appearances and he has quite a fan base. It's amazing how big it is actually. There's something strange though, Clint and I already have the video from San Diego and a few other things."

"What video's are they?" Fury asked.

"A few from Stark's Iron man 3, it happened after the Avengers." Clint muttered. "Nearing Christmas, mostly. And we have some Thor stuff and a few behind the scenes."

"We'll watch the other videos later." Fury said.

"Is there anything useful?" Steve wondered, looking up from what he was searching. "Not to be rude but, we all know that they're actors and we have movies and looking into these videos will help us shape our future better but, is there something useful that can get us back home?"

"Gee Cap, why don't we just search 'how to get back to our world using a wormhole?' That would be so much easier." Tony rolled his eyes. "Like that would actually help us."

"Would you drop the jokes?" Steve turned to him. "It's not even funny."

"It's funny to me." Tony said, slightly offended.

"What else is there?" Hill glared.

"I found a trailer about the Avengers." Tony leaned back, ignoring Steve.

"And?"

"It seems to play exactly as what happened to us and it might be useful to see it. I meant that if we should by any chance want to start at something, we might as well start at where we left off, before we see the things we didn't and my new movie and Thor's and shit."

"Fine." Fury said, not at all content at the information they had.

"Director, I mean no disrespect-" Thor stood up.

"What is it?"

Fury turned to him and now, yet again, eyes were staring at him. What was wrong with this place that it was making them all uncomfortable that they needed to know what the other wishes to say?

Thor didn't think it was all that important that they needed to listen in but he did not care anymore. He only wished to know what he wished and if he was given it, it may ease his worried mind and heart.

"I wish to know what is going on with my brother." Thor breathed out.

He wished for the director to allow him footage of his brother, he had not asked before and he now wished to do so. If they had all blacked out, it would mean that Loki also did and he wished to know his condition. Everyone had felt bad upon waking and it continued to plague and scratch at Thor's mind until he found the answer he wanted to hear.

Fury scowled at Thor.

The Director knew not to argue with the god, for Thor was stronger than all of them, perhaps even the Hulk and so he turned to the two assassins lounging around the chair.

"Give us a live feed." He gestured.

"Thank you." Thor said but was disrupted by Fury.

"I'm not doing this to ease what you're feeling for him." The one eyed man growled, it reminded Thor of his father.

"I understand you, Director Fury-"

"No, you don't." Fury shook his head. "I'm just doing it to know if Loki's where he belongs."

"He is-"

"In his cell and away from trouble. Or at least that's what I want to see. Now that you reminded me of it, I'd like to know. Agent Romanov and Agent Barton, do you mind?"

"He's up." Clint spoke, no emotion in his voice.

"Here." Natasha pressed a button and it flared into the screen.

Loki was on the floor at the edge of his bed, arms embracing himself. It looked as if he had only woken up and his eyes were empty, staring at the door. When they rewound the tape, Loki had passed out and the tape crashed during their entrance to the wormhole, only to later open and Loki was trying to sit himself up on the bed but gave up as he couldn't.

His shackled hand had went to his head and later rubbed at his eyes, clanking with at the metaled gag on his lips. Then, they were back in real time, where Loki simply sat there, deep in thought.

"Do you have anything in mind as to what he's thinking?" Fury asked Thor. "It might help."

"I have close to none." Thor sighed.

* * *

**oOo  
**

**_You think you know pain? _**

_"Who?"_ Loki called, the voice was barely audible.

_**You will long for something as sweet, as pain.** _

The voice echoed and laughed, there was darkness and Loki tried to grab at something only to feel something hit his chest and he cursed silently. Loki felt a jerk to his sides as light flooded his eyes.

He immediately turned to his sides as he heard the metal shackle noise around his wrists.

_"How in Valhalla did it come to this?" _Loki asked himself.

Loki groaned as he awoke, finding no change to his room he tried to sit back on the bed so he would feel less uncomfortable. It was hard as he felt his knees give out. He tried again and stubbornly this time as he tried to achieve it, but to no avail.

_"Oh Loki."_ He told himself. _"You've tried to conquer a realm and yet you cannot even reach the bed."_

After his humiliating attempt, he'd rather not do it again.

He had momentarily forgotten about the camera in his room and it was a good thing that he simply gave up. It seemed that whatever happened with the Helicarrier and everyone on board, had affected him so much, that he felt fatigue wash over his body.

**_The trickster, so far away... _**

Loki's limbs ached and his head pounded.

Not good.

**_You cannot hide forever..._**

A groan escaped from his gagged mouth and a hand shot to his head.

**_He seeks you..._ **

No. Loki shook his head, covering his ears in hopes that he would be able to shut off the annoying voice inside his head, but it was in vain.

The voice continued.

_**And he shall find you...** _

Loki closed his eyes and concentrated, his breathing erratic, but he had managed to calm himself down before he caused a scene.

_**He's in your thoughts... **_

_"I can keep him out." _Loki hissed back.

_**In your memories...**_

_"Then I shall bury them with the other horrible memories."_

_**You are his.**_

_"SILENCE!" _Loki shut his eyes further. _"L-leave me alone." _

_**Time is of the essence, prince...**_

That was the _Other's_ voice, but why now?

Loki knew that they would be coming after him now that he had failed them, failed Thanos, he would be punished severely, but Loki fought back.

He wasn't afraid of the Other too much, but afraid of the pain Thanos would cause him.

He had been through the mind gem's power far too many times to command his own body control and he would never willingly admit that he had been used and abused in that year he had been gone, but now was not the time to have an ego.

Loki wished that Thor would come see him, maybe then he could tell him.

Or at least try to.

_"Yet my lies are always above my truths." _Loki sighed beneath the gag.

He tried to look again to see any change in his room and he rubbed at his eyes, something was definitely wrong with the feel of the place and Loki could _feel_ it radiating everywhere.

He tried to focus on his surroundings better and despite the lack of magic, he could still sense other forms of magic due to his trained senses when it came to his _forte._

Loki stared and began to think.

_"What is going on?" _He thought.

In truth, Loki had no idea as to what was happening outside his room. All he knew and all he could see was the metallic covers surrounding him and it was excruciating not to know.

Something was wrong, and he wished to be part of the knowledge that others knew.

Too bad he was their prisoner.

* * *

**oOo**

They had left Loki to his own world at staring at nothing and despite Thor's protests to go see his brother, they still didn't give him access to do it. They all agreed that it was better that Loki stayed in there until they needed the information.

So far, the universe where there aren't any superheroes was pretty normal.

It was so strange that there were no "Super" heroes at all, just plain regular people doing what they can to live. No shield, no other form of government stuff or at least not that they know of but still, this universe was beyond strange.

It was normal.

After given a few arguments, they finally decided to look into these videos or at least the first one that they all suggested to watch.

Tony's idea.

They closed the window area of the room and allowed the screen to kick in, making the main control room look like a movie theater. The Avengers almost laughed.

While they were all busy, Steve was looking into own matters that concerned them all. He dared not to tell them, at least not yet. He found information, very haunting info and he didn't want to share it yet.

Not until everyone was ready.

Tony pressed the video and it began to play. Everyone seemed to stop what they were doing, even some who manned the ship left some on auto-pilot even just for a while. They wanted to see this and it seemed too interesting to pass up.

With the Avengers seated and watching, they were left to judge it.

The_ camera showed the entire city of New York from an angle above, then turning to a moving motion of another. The perfect sky, the beautiful structures of the buildings and its untamed beauty towering above others but interrupted by a voice spoke as the scene played out._

_"You were made..." And countless civilians watched in horror. "To be ruled."_

"Oh shit, it's Loki." Tony watched.

"It pains me to hear my brother say such a thing." Thor muttered, clearly distressed and unhappy with how this scene was making Loki out to be.

A villain.

But Thor knew better.

_Cars exploded, the Swat teams and Police fought for the safety of many innocent lives. They all ran, screamed and yet it was too late.  
_

_"In the end..." And the camera changed, from an Agents footsteps, to Loki's unmoving body kneeling at the portal where he came from. _

_"It'll be every man for himself."  
_

"The bastard." Clint clenched his fists.

_Loki's dark eyes stared with intention, empty yet threatening.  
_

_Then he attacked._

_Cars exploded one after the other as a lot of men and women, including some children ran for their lives. And the darkness swallowed the screen. _

"Is this really a trailer for the movie?" Bruce adjusted his eye glasses.

He noticed that the ship was under control and most of the Agents were focused on the giant screen and watched the scene play out.

"Yeah, it's our movie and it all adds up to everything that's happened to us." Tony bit his lips. "It's just amazing that it was captured this way. It doesn't have the feel of being in it, but to see the whole event take place in this point of view, it's just weird."

Everyone agreed.

_The scene showed the base where Loki had attacked, one of the helicopters dropping off and the Agent Coulson waiting on the ground._

_"What do we do?" Coulson asked.  
_

"Well I'll be damned." Tony cursed.

_Director Fury dropped down the helicopter and eyed the place. And it closed to his, holding a two way radio. _

_"We get ready." And the music began to play, slowly but surely getting more suspense filled.  
_

The tension in the room was quite clear, Coulson was a big topic in the Helicarrier and to anyone who knew him. He was a good man, and he barely even had room to fight.

"Cat's out of the bag." Steve whispered.

He half stared at the screen and half payed attention to what he was researching. It all made sense and he wasn't about to lose this.

_The screen showed the ones who helped make the movie and later went back to Coulson, thumbing a device, blacking out to Bruce and Steve walking through the hall with Natasha leading the way._

_"There was an idea-"_

_Steve entered a room and focused on his Captain America suits. "To bring together-" And Thor appearing as he held his hammer. "-A group of remarkable people." Bruce slamming his hands on the table and Steve knocking out one of the punching bags. Thor using lightning and Natasha standing there as the background blew up.  
_

_"So when we needed them-" Fury explained._

_In time, Clint released his bow and Natasha turned to a grinning Loki, walking down the hall with armed guards. "To fight the battles, that we never could." Finished Fury as it showed Tony, looking serious as hell. The screen showed the beauty of his armor as well as the moves he did as he flew, rocketing himself to the side._

"This doesn't seem like the worst of it." Hill muttered. "They're promoting it."

"Of course, who wouldn't want to watch the Avengers kick ass?" Tony scoffed, noticing that the video was paused because people were talking and whispering.

It was only just.

"Who would ever want to watch people get killed?" Steve said in return, earning a glare from Tony. "And it's our lives."

"No one asked you."

"I was expressing an opinion."

"So what? I don't care and our lives are interesting to people."

"But that doesn't make it good for people to enjoy."

"Gentlemen." Fury growled. "If you want to continue, do this outside. Because we have work to do and this is work despite whatever we're doing. Got it?"

"It's fine, Sir." Steve said.

"Goodie-two-shoes." Tony muttered as he crossed his arms.

The trailer was played again for the sake of everyone in the room who was watching.

_The next scene showed them gathered in the same room. "Gentlemen, what are you prepared to do-" They all readied their suits and their weapons and the scene played inside another room. The same room where the disaster began. _

_"No offense but, I don't play well with others."_

_"Big man in a suit of armor, take that away and what are you?"_

_"Genius, Billionaire, playboy, philanthropist." Leaving it with Thor laughing at them at the said.  
_

"Oh no." Bruce shook his head.

"You know," Tony points out, unable to keep his mouth shut. "This trailer just attacked our way of thinking. It's messing everything up. That's not how things went, Thor didn't even laugh at that part."

"There's a reason it's called a trailer, Stark." Natasha pressed her lips into a thin line.

"Yeah, besides it's a teaser." Clint huffed.

_The next few scenes showed Tony chasing after the missile while Fury used a rocket launcher, Captain running and jumping around, Hawkeye fighting, explosions and more as the music continued to impress. One part showed Loki throwing Tony out of a window as Thor and Steve fought below. _

_"If we can't protect the earth." Said Tony. "You can be damn well sure we'll avenge it." _

"You talked to Loki." Fury turned to Tony, and all eyes were on him.

"What?" Tony rolled his eyes. "Did you actually think that I dropped down to my tower and stared Loki in the eye and he just so happens to throw me out a window?"

"You must have said something bad." Clint chuckled, clearly amused and uncaring.

"That information is vital." Fury said. "You never mentioned talking to him."

"It didn't matter because there wasn't anything important about it."

"We'll discuss this later, Mr. Stark."

_The trailer was about to end with the Avengers sign and before it completely ended, it showed Tony and Bruce talking to each other. It was clear to everyone who was in the room before, that the two scientists had only just met._

_"Dr. Banner, your work is unparalleled." Tony shook his hands. "And I'm a huge fan of the way you, lose control, and turn into an enormous green rage monster."  
_

_Banner transformed into the Hulk and it screamed deadly, reverting back to the same similar face of Bruce, looking awkward and turning away before he said "Thank you."  
_

"Despite all the gamma radiation, some people still care." Selvig chuckled and smiled. "It doesn't seem so bad, does it?"

"Not really." Bruce smiled back.

"The Hulk saved my life, I owe him." Tony exaggerated his hand movements. "Big time."

"You did mean it." Bruce turned to him.

"No lies." Tony raised his hands. "So, I showed you what I found out. What did the rest of you find?"

Everyone else began discussing what could be possible information. Some of them wanted to discuss about Loki and some of them wanted to know what happened with everyone else, or what their future was, but Steve was eying something else.

Clear on the screen of his pad, the words visible as day light.

_Agents of Shield._

* * *

**oOo**

**What do you want to see in the next chapter? **

**I need help. Any ideas? xD **

**Please review and tell me what you think. Reviews fuel me to write faster, even just a tiny review is appreciated. Thank you so much! **


	3. Chapter 3 - So Loki is?

**Thank you for the lovely reviews. Mira SeverusSerius Black-Snape, Loki'sArmy0602, ArainaHaldthin, camitake, Child of Night13, Cretha Loesing, Anime Hottie Lovah, and special mention to SpilledInkWell for the suggestions! Enjoy~  
**

* * *

**oOo **

"Are you saying what I think you're saying?"

Fury had his arms crossed and his one eye staring at all of them. They had been discussing this for over an hour and they managed to sum a few important things down. It took them a while to agree because despite the fact that they fought together, it didn't mean they were in friendly terms.

They still had something _bad_ to say to each other when the need arises.

The first one that they agreed upon, which was the most important was their future. If they hadn't been sucked into the wormhole that they came through earlier, then most likely their futures would be the same ones as the movies.

Second of all, there were secrets left uncovered and unanswered that were open for all eyes to see and they too wanted to know the things they missed when they were so busy fighting the world and almost getting killed in the process.

And thirdly, there could be an answer somewhere in there to get back home.

"It's all in there, Sir." Clint answered the director.

"No doubt about it." Natasha backed him up. "We've double checked and it seems to be logical enough."

"You're trying to tell me that everyone on this planet, _almost _everyone, thinks that Loki was influenced to do this?" Fury asked in disbelief. "Is that right, Agent Barton, Romanov?"

"We've checked, there are all sorts of stories going on about Loki being used." Clint frowned.

"Used?" Bruce craned his head.

"Uh, that doesn't explain very much." Tony made a face. "Like how was he used? Like a wet paper towel or a used up tool?"

Thor was sitting on one of the chairs, eying the table that still had Loki's room featured on it. Thor was deep in thought yet despite that, he was still listening to his new friends talking about Loki. Deep inside Thor was offended with the way these mortals talked about Loki, they did not know him as well as he did, but he couldn't blame them.

It was a natural reaction for someone who has caused so much destruction.

And now, Thor believed that he did not know Loki well enough. Only now that he has lost Loki to this bitter madness that claimed him, only now did he grow wise to realize what he had done to contribute in such madness.

It was he who was the beginning of Loki's hatred and pain, and the he was also the end to Loki's epitome of elegance and charm.

_"Why have you done this, brother?" _Thor thought, trying to wrack his brain into thinking. _"Was all that destruction meant to prove something?"_

"I mean come on!" Tony exaggerated his movements for effect. "This is Loki we're talking about."

"I've seen men end up this way." Steve recalled. "I mean, they make look strong and brave but on the inside they're just as scared as the rest of us."

"Loki's not a soldier, Cap."

"I'm not saying he is, Stark." He replied back as sternly as he could. "I'm just saying that it could be right that he was influenced. I mean, this world does seem to be a gold mine of secrets, right? How can we not believe this?"

"He does have a point." Bruce shrugged when Tony gave him a hurt glance.

"Alright, birdy. Used as in he wasn't at all behind this?"

"Yes, Stark."

"Can you elaborate?"

"As much as I hate to say it he was _used_. He sort of acted like, _bait_." Clint simplified it for the sake of the people in the room. "Nat and I can't seem to find something else that says otherwise that it was all on him, but we can confirm there was an acting force behind the attack."

"So he's innocent?" Hill wondered.

"Not really. He's just as guilty as the rest of us when it comes to our problems, our main issues. Majority of the human population of this world said he did it because he had no other choice, that he did it for the sake of not getting tortured."

"Tortured?" Thor turned away from the screen he was staring at. "What did you say?"

"You heard right, buddy." Clint grumbled, annoyed that he got the attention of the Norse god so suddenly.

Clint thinks that it was somewhat weird that Thor would still care for Loki after everything that happened, but hey they were brothers. And Clint knew better than to judge Thor's relationship with Loki. Clint had a brother himself and it was painful, so in a sense, he understood what it was like to be on the other side of the receiving end.

_Until the pain starts..._

"Is this true?" Thor turned to the director.

"Don't look at me." Fury sighed. "I don't believe it either."

"But if tortured, it would make some sense. When my brother fell off the bifrost he had gone into a void."

"An empty space." Tony said.

"Yes." Thor agreed. "My family and I believe that Loki acquired his army when he fell into the void. That he claimed them as his own when he had nothing left to lose. Offered them something in return to rule the Earth."

"Well, if that's what you think then where is all this tortured thing coming into play?" Tony hummed in victory. "I mean, point break, we know you have some grudge against your brother-"

"I do not."

"Uh yeah you do, but given that these facts seem legit, let's go with that."

"Let me get this straight." Bruce bit his lips. "They're saying that Loki fell into the void, got to the Chitauri and he may or may not have been tortured and was given a task that could more likely give him a freedom and a land fit for a king?"

"That's one way to sum it down, Doctor." Natasha smiled but it later faltered. "We're not so sure either."

"Are there any pictures or videos that can prove that?" Steve asked, knowing there should be something.

"Well, feast your eyes guys."

Natasha pulled up some pictures and videos of Loki infiltrating Shield, it was all over the screen and there were multiple videos that can say a lot just by looking at them. Other angles showed the car chase, Clint turning into one of those puppets, Loki attacking shield Agents.

There were more but these were the most important ones.

"Clint and I are sure that there's another party hiding behind the sidelines." Natasha leaned back on her chair with her arms crossed. "We think that Loki came here with a purpose, and if he failed, something bad was going to happen."

"How can you say he came here tortured with a mission?" Hill narrowed her eyes at her. "And if he failed there's a bounty on his head?"

"A bounty seems like the right term, Agent Hill." Natasha shook her head. "Like I said, we're all guessing because we aren't sure if all these facts are truly facts."

"We've gotten hold of everything we got." Fury stated. "And everything seems to be fitting in all the right pieces. Now, as much as I want to think he was influenced in this, I still don't trust him."

"Loki did look horrible when he got here." Clint shrugged, trying to contribute to the idea. "Still..."

"I can second that." Selvig shrugged. "I'm not defending him for his actions or anything but based on these facts, and what he said back in your base, it seems plausible."

"What he said on the base?" Hill stared suspiciously.

"I am burdened with glorious purpose." Selvig repeated, along with the ominous tone to his voice. "Don't you find that strange?"

"It could mean something." Steve was at a loss for words, unsure of what was happening to them exactly.

"And, you..." Selvig pointed at Clint. "Didn't you notice that he limped his way to the van, or even secluded himself in that make-shift cave we were hauled in?"

"Clint?" Natasha narrowed her eyes at him as if saying _don't you dare lie._

"Yeah, that's true."

"I still don't trust this." Fury shook his head and sighed.

"That's not the only information we managed to get." Natasha pressed a few buttons and the screen showed multiple pictures of a cloaked Chitauri.

"Loki's army." She said, showing them a video of Loki talking to him. "The army wasn't at all his to command, there was another one. Not entirely the master, but it was his army that Loki lead. His name is the _Other._"

"Other?" Tony snorts. "What a stupid name."

_"You question us? You question HIM?"_ They listened to the Other talking to Loki about the master they so claim to hold servitude to. _"__He, who put the scepter in your hand, who gave you ancient knowledge and new purpose when you were cast out, defeated?"_

_"I was a king, the rightful king of Asgard! Betrayed!" _

Loki's voice was shattering then and there and his eyes were lost, unable to comprehend the scene. Thor noticed it, only now was he able to notice it.

"Purpose." Thor tried to wrack his brain into understanding. "Loki was without purpose!"

"What?" Steve asked but was shushed by Tony.

_"You will have your war, Asgardian."_ The Other growled as the Avengers watch the scene unfold.

_"__If you fail, if the Tesseract is kept from us, there will be no realm, no barren moon, no crevice where he can not find you."_ The Other growled. _"__You think you know pain? He will make you long for something as sweet as pain." _

"What were you saying Thor?" Fury and the rest of the team turned to him.

"My brother's actions does not seem to be his." Thor glared as the scene ended. "Surely his actions were justified with what had happened before, with the bifrost and the destroyer, but this is something else entirely."

"Like what?" Tony asked. "That Loki was being controlled by them?"

"Loki does not act without purpose." Thor explained. "So it is possible that he was played into it."

"And what can he gain from conquering us?" Fury asked.

"That is just it, he bases it off as a mere ploy to prove to the All-father that he can be king. I remember Loki telling me before that he did not wish to hold the throne. Even when we were young we already knew where our fates lay on."

"And that is?"

"I would be on the throne and he would be my adviser."

"Tough call." Clint chuckled in disbelief. "He's the god of lies, you want him to be your adviser? Isn't that wrong?"

"Not at all. You do not know him as I did." Thor mumbled. "My brother knew more of politics and the realms more than I do and it was a wise decision before all this had happened."

"So what are you trying to say, Thor?" Selvig asked.

"Loki's actions does not seem correct. My brother is anything but evil, he may love chaos but he is not all destruction. He wishes for attention, something that was not given to him before." Thor explained. "Tell me, what the mortals of these world know of."

"What?" Hill looked at the Avengers.

"The mortals of this universe, who was it that controls my brother?"

"Despite the fact it was The Other..." Clint muttered. "Some guy called Thanos, the mad Titan."

Thor's eyes widened and he muttered a brief_no _that was caught by everyone staring at him. Thor palmed his face in frustration and leaned back on the chair, giving a loud grunt, looking away.

"What was that about?" Tony scowled.

"Do you know this person?" Fury asked Thor.

"He is no person." Thor grumbles in annoyance. "Is this true?" He asked his friends again. "Are you sure it is him who gave my brother the power to rule over Midgard? Is it true that he was the one that forced Loki into this?"

"Yeah." Clint nodded. "The movie about us, showed as much as we needed to know. It's him."

"If these _people_ think that Loki is being controlled, then what now?" Hill wondered.

"We can go ask him." Fury pointed at the screen Thor was looking at earlier and they all understood where this was going to go.

They needed to confirm it with Loki.

"What makes you think he'll answer us?" Natasha quirked an eyebrow.

"Not us." Fury pointed at Thor and turned to him. "You think you could go and talk to your brother."

"I know not."

"Then at least try, we need answers. And you've yet to answer who this Thanos is."

"If Thanos is truly the one who placed my brother in such a fate." Thor's face darkened. "Then we are all in danger."

* * *

**oOo**

**TBC...**

**Short chapter. So sorry~**

**Please review and tell me what you think, reviews fuel me to write faster so please even just a tiny review is enough~ Thank you.**


	4. Chapter 4 - You know Nothing!

**Thank you for the lovely reviews. Long chapter for this one~ XD  
**

**Warning: So many FEELS. I think I lost it on this one.**

* * *

**oOo  
**

They were all still sitting in the main room and the round table in the middle. They had one camera for Loki, who was sitting on the bed with his knees held to his chest. He looked young and tired, and almost sleepy. Thor was in the other room, sitting and pacing. He was trying to fix whatever speech he had laid out to Loki but they all knew that Thor was having difficulty.

Why couldn't Thor just wing it, you say?

Well, it would not be that easy. If Thor would have gone in there without much thought of what he had to say, then surely there would be no progress and they needed progress. It was only a matter of time that they settled the difference they had.

And if this _universe_ was telling the truth, then that means that Loki _might _be on their side still.

With a little convincing of course.

"He's playing us." Natasha stated. "Just like I played him. He's good at hiding something he doesn't want us to find out."

"We've all noticed that." Clint agreed. "His demeanor changed completely."

"Then shielded from view." Tony sighed. "We get it. Can we just skip all of this and get back to something else."

"Well, what about the tortures Loki had to go through?" Steve asked.

"Don't mention that to Thor." Selvig sighed. "It's bad, for him to hear it."

"We aren't even sure if the guy _was _really tortured." Tony pointed out some facts. "He's been used and he fell off the Bifrost but that never really meant he was tortured, was it? I mean, there's no video of it."

"But a lot of people implied it." Natasha narrowed her eyes.

"He looked hellish when he got here." Fury stated. "I'm not even going to lie, he looked like a goddamn corpse."

"Seconded, Sir." Clint sighed, putting his legs on the table.

And if it was true that Loki was tortured, as the statements had gone, then it means that Loki wasn't truly in on the whole _kill the human race_ kind of thing. That he had only done what he did because he was forced to do it and there was no other choice. And not to mention that Loki may have had it in his head that he had to do those things in order to prove himself worthy.

They knew that he might accept the blame and the Avengers were prepared for it. They knew that if that happened, they would look closely on Loki's physical behavior.

In the way, he looked and talked and other body movements.

The Shield Agents were prepared for interrogations such as that, but they also needed outside help like from Tony, Bruce, Selvig and Steve. They weren't yet ready to tackle the tesseract, they need more information on it before they could go jab it.

And Loki was one of the person who was for the job to know what the tesseract wants.

It's only a matter of agreement on both parts.

They've all agreed to let Thor handle his brother for now. They just had to wait for Thor to get ready and for all of them to settle down.

Today, was one of the horrible days they've ever had.

"So basically this is our plan?" Tony cocked his head to the side, looking for confirmation. "Seriously? You're just going to allow Thor to talk to Loki? Haven't we learned anything from before?"

"We don't have much of a choice in the matter." Fury said as he turned to them.

"We have Loki restrained with the cuff's Tony and I made. That includes the muzzle." Bruce muttered. "But we're not really sure about Loki's reaction and Thor's for that matter."

"I don't like it either." Steve said. "But we should at least try."

"Try is different from doing it without expecting the worse." Tony shrugged.

"It will get ugly." Clint leaned back on his chair.

"It's going to be worse than that." Natasha agreed.

"We're going to need all the information we could get.' Fury told them. "Besides, we'll be listening in on the conversation. While Thor prepares, I want more info you can get on any of us."

Before Bruce could say anything else, Tony immediately intercepted him and raised his hand. He looked up from the Starkpad that he had connected to the screen, and shot the doctor an apologetic look, and disregarded Bruce's eye roll.

"Have you guys ever heard of Fanfiction?" Tony grinned waving his hand.

"What's that?" Steve questioned.

"You don't want to know, Cap." Clint shrugged, frowning at Tony.

"I want to know." He pushed.

"It's just some silly stories."

"It's not silly." Tony pouted, causing Clint to explain it to Steve.

"It's just some stories people make out for either pleasure or for a satisfactory ending to a story or a whole different take on it. We have those in our world too. For Movies, series and book characters and the like."

"Well, on this world we have a bunch of Avengers related fan fics." Tony said, showing it to them on the screen with pictures of fan arts.

"See for yourself."

"Stark, this isn't useful." Fury shook his head.

"I'm just easing up the tension, by the way, they ship BlackHawk so hard. It's yummy. Two master assassins... it's one hell of an action story. If you know what I mean."

"BlackHawk? Seriously, Stark?" Natasha frowned and narrowed her eyes. "Did you just add both Clint and mine's code names together?"

"Correction! I didn't add it. The people of this universe did."

"I'm afraid of what other things you have in there." Clint chuckled stupidly as he took the pad from Tony. "Let me see that. Woah! Holy Balls!"

Now everyone was curious and while they were goofing off, Fury and Agent Hill decided to let it slide. It could be important and it was just a quick little thing, so there were no worries at all. Clint began to laugh and lost his scary serious demeanor.

"They ship Science Bro's?" Clint wondered.

"Really?" Natasha quirked an eyebrow. "Tony and Banner?"

"I don't get these, ships?" Steve scowled. "They made ships based on our names?"

"Umm, not exactly." Bruce interrupted before Tony could explain. "You see, these ships in stories aren't what they literally mean, like boats and transportation. These _ships _they call are known as _pairings_."

"They pair you up to different people that they think has a thing for each other." Natasha continued for him.

"Like a couple?" Steve asked.

"Yes. Sort of based on the character, they can manipulate them to be with each other depending on the attitude and apparently, you have one too, Cap."

Natasha smirked and pointed at the screen, which Tony took the liberty of posting any pairing Steve had with an Avenger. The Other Agents who were in the main room handling the ship were snickering and Fury palmed his face desperately trying not to lose temper.

It's just a bunch of Agents having a good time.

What the hell?

They were in another universe!

Damn it!

"Wow, Super-husbands." Tony almost felt like gagging but laughed instead. "They also have a... eww, IronThunder? That's not something I want to do with Thor."

"Tony, can we stop." Bruce bit his lips, trying to prevent himself from laughing. "This is too weird, even for me. Being a scientist, I don't normally look these up."

"I do." Tony grinned. "Only when it perks my interest."

"CaptainHawk?" Steve's eyes widened. "I don't-"

"Stark." Natasha warned.

"Oh god, my eyes!" Clint pressed the button and immediately the screen lit up to fan art pictures of him and Loki. "They _ship _this!? Why would they ship this?! Why? Shit!"

"They're both your fans apparently." Steve shrugged. "This is so strange. We've never had, ships like this. Not to mention they're... it's... they're shipping men on men."

"Gay?" Natasha narrowed her eyes questioningly "We understand you come from a time where they don't open up as much, but this time is different. It's practically open everywhere."

"It's still strange to me."

"You'll get used to it." Tony grinned, almost losing the worry he had earlier.

"BlackIce?" Natasha smirked. "Is that the best they can come up with?"

"What about GammaFrost?" Hill stated, smirking.

"They ship Loki and Bruce?" Tony stuck a tongue out. "Ew, imagine the big guy doing stuff to-"

"Stop!" Bruce raised his hand, a little pale on the face. "I don't even want that image inside my head. Understood? Don't mention it again, Tony. Please. For my sake."

"You got it, Science boyfriend." He laughed, flipping through other Loki related pairings. "There's a FrostShield too. And at times, Steve's the dominant one."

"You are weird, Tony Stark." Natasha crossed her arms. "You're a sick man."

"I think he's always sick." Clint smirked. "Look at the tabloids people talk about him."

"Why?" Tony pointed out. "Is it because I find humor in this? Come on, since when do we sit down and get to talk about these things. Besides, Thor is still preparing to talk to Loki. Might as well do something productive, you know?"

"This is what you call productive?" Clint raised an eyebrow.

"It's still progress." Fury sighed, not wanting to deny information.

"Even if it is strange." Hill muttered, eying a few glancing Agents.

The Agents seem really curious about the pairings, must have been strange and funny to them. It would be something to talk about in the cafeteria or break time. There's always something interesting in Shield that perks interest in many Agents, thus, turning into the story of the day.

"I can see why it gave you a hard time bringing them all together." Selvig shook his head. "The team is a mess, but they do work well in the battle field."

"They're all screwed up." Fury said. "But you're right, they are a team when it comes to saving the world."

Rumors were bound to be unleashed.

"You should be ashamed of yourself." Bruce palmed his face. "What if Thor heard you talking about Loki being paired to any one of us. He'll kill you."

"I'm ready for it, it's just kinky stuff." Tony pouts. "Besides, Loki has a good look anyway."

"You're insane."

"Some of those stories are, legit, am I right?" Hill wondered. "Some of them are made up sure, but they can still happen if you choose it to happen."

She noticed the other Agents were miraculously doing work but still paying attention to their do love a gossip or two, and still, it doesn't matter if they hear it or not. They're part of shield despite their level clearances.

"Oh, they have a plot if that's what you want to know." Tony licked his lips. "And yeah, if we try hard, we could end up as one of these stories. I'm quickly scanning some of them and they totally have a plot."

"So it's easy for us to turn to that path, if we want it to be." Clint scowled. "That's just, weird."

"There's a real path though, right?" Fury wondered. "The movies, they're the real path on where we're suppose to be headed."

"Yes." Natasha agreed. "Supposedly the one we were going to go through with if we hadn't ended up in this mess."

"I want this, Pepperony!" Tony suddenly shouts. "Just the thing for me and Pepper. It's funny, cause _pizza. _Oh, this looks interesting-"

"What is it?" Clint perked up as Bruce and Steve rolled their eyes.

"Iron Widow?" Tony laughed. "I would enjoy this a lot."

"Is there anyone else who can give a better report on information than him?" Natasha called out. "I'm sick of these pairings."

"There's so much more but hey- Wow, Loki and I look sexy together. They call us FrostIron. Hmmm... not a bad name. IronFrost. It's really a thing."

"I can see both your ego's clashing." Bruce smiled at Tony.

"Now that I think of it." Steve said. "Tony and Loki's story seems almost the same, except Tony changed-"

"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!" Tony scowled and glared at Steve. "Hey, I don't want you talking about me while I'm here. Sure there's a similarity but hell, I don't want you to compare me to him. I can compare myself to him if I want to, but I don't want you to do it."

"Stark-"

"Don't-" He raised a finger. "We're teammates sure, but we're far from friends. Bruce, sure. But us? We're cool but not as cool as you think. So Super-husbands, totally something far from near."

"Alright can we get back to the topic?" Fury ended the argument and it caused a silence in the room. Even the Agents monitoring the Helicarrier were doing their best to keep themselves occupied.

"And we're close to.." Tony muttered and let out a huge wail. "Oh no! Loki and I are only second to- Noo! No... seriously!? Shit!"

"What is it now, Stark?" Natasha glared.

"I have a bad feeling about what's coming next." Bruce stated at Tony's reaction.

"Why?" Everyone turned to him.

"We have pairings!" Tony announced. "No, you misunderstand. Think about it! Science Bro's, Super-husbands, BlackHawk, FrostIron, there's bound to be somewhere in there with Loki and Thor. Am I right?"

"Incest?" Clint muttered and Tony grinned, he began punching words on the screen.

"Stark, please don't." Fury palmed his face at the sheer stupidity of his team.

"Thorki!" Tony laughed. "Oh shit, I never expected this to happen. They are brother's sure but they're in no way related. Just by adoption."

"This is so strange." Steve shook his head.

"Alright, enough of that. It's starting." Fury disregarded everything and pulled up a video of Thor heading straight to Loki's cell. There was a knock on Loki's door, causing Loki to look up from where he was staring at on the floor.

"If there will be kinky shit in this, I am so getting the video tape." Tony smiled.

"I won't get the images out of my head now." Clint sighed. "This world is screwed up."

"Think of breaking the fourth wall." Selvig chuckled. "Such young inventive minds."

"It's show time."

* * *

**oOo**

Loki was doing his best to stay awake and he had completely forgotten about the camera in his room. He desperately tried his best to refrain from sleeping, in fear that the Other may get to him still. After all, the mind gem was still close and there was still this faint spell hovering above him still and it was not good.

Loki was still somewhat influenced in it and yet he cared not. He only wanted to get away from them. The best thing to do was to accept all blame and be done with it.

Thor was never going to know.

He was never suppose to know, so what would happen now, was only the beginning of Loki's nightmares.

_Knock. Knock. _

Loki looked up from where he curled himself on the bed, he loosened a bit to stare at the door. Wondering who it was. His magic was faint and it prevented him from being able to sense who it was, but the knock was a dead giveaway.

It was loud and obnoxious, just as it was demanding.

_"Thor." _Loki guessed.

The door opened and in came his so called brother. Loki eyed him with pain and misery, hoping to make Thor see what he had done and unleashed upon. Thor strode forward and Loki couldn't help but lean back on the wall. He did his best to inch further away from Thor, not wanting his brother to touch him.

"I only wish to speak to you." Thor sighed, voice low and menacingly. "You must be curious to know what has happened to this flying fortress."

_"Curious is an understatement." _Loki stared at him.

"Let me take the muzzle off."

Thor sat on the bed beside Loki and took off the muzzle. Once he took it off, Thor glanced at the camera, knowing full well that the Avengers were monitoring their every move. But Loki wasn't even fazed about it. It was as if he didn't know, or never really cared.

He could see Loki rubbing at his jaw and he could hear Loki whine in pain as it was taken off, and Loki did his best to refrain from showing too much to Thor. Thor however, saw the unconscious behavior. Like a child, Loki was. He sat there pain in his eyes and body slightly trembling from fatigue.

It was disheartening.

Loki did not want to be pitied and Thor would not pity him.

"W-why?"

Loki's voice sounded very hoarse and less threatening than before and it caused Thor's stomach to churn. Loki was still healing from the Hulk's sudden use of him to decorate the floor. Thor felt sorry for Loki.

What had he done?

If everything in this universe was true then he had branded Loki the worse.

"Why?" Thor asked. "Do you wish for me to return the muzzle back on? Because I will not."

"No, you- idiot." Loki turned to him, knees still embraced to his chest. "Why are you here? Why not let the others speak to me? Why is it so important that it would be you out of all people?"

"Why not me?" Thor frowned, hearing the trembling in Loki's voice. "I want to tell you about the events earlier. They think me better suited to tell you."

"Oh, you mean the part where we all get tossed around thanks to whoever was flying the damned contraption?"

"Perhaps." Thor agreed.

Loki scowled and shifted farther from him to the corner of the bed, next to the wall and headboard. He leaned his head to the headboard and stared at Thor. They were only a pillow apart and it felt so foreign to the two of them.

It was horrible.

"We are not in our world anymore Loki." Thor immediately went into the topic. "The tesseract had reacted badly to a strange anomaly. Something similar to stories of Asgard. This universe we are in, is no longer ours."

"We do not exist here." Loki scowled.

"Aye." Thor nodded. "We exist here as different people. Mortals I believe and they portray our story."

"Portray our story?" Loki inched closer in curiosity. "What do you mean? They mock us?"

"No. You are mistaken. They play out our lives as how it should have been. Now that we are here, our lives tread differently now and it is only a matter of choice if we go down that path."

"So you've seen it?"

"No. I dare not to. Not yet." Thor sighed. "Not without you."

* * *

**oOo**

"They really grow on you, don't they?" Tony stared at the huge screen on the window. "Bag full of cats?"

"Anyone?"

Everyone had abandoned whatever they were doing, because everything was already in tact. No problems and it was all running on autopilot for the time being. They were barely moving in the air and the lights in the main room had dimmed, as if they were watching a movie.

But it was about Thor and Loki in a cell together.

"Don't be naive Thor, you're better than that." Loki scoffed and Thor could swear he saw tears form in Loki's eyes, only to be blinked away in a matter of seconds.

Thor could hear the slip up, he could hear the brother he knew and it pained him to listen. Because somewhere in Loki, the brother he grew up was in there. He was hiding behind pain, misery and a hardened heart.

"We wanted to know what you could have known about the tesseract acting this way?" Thor asked.

"He's asking the wrong things." Bruce muttered. "Shouldn't he be saying that the wormhole had brought us here and the tesseract was just badly behaving?"

"I think he's on to something." Natasha answered. "Question is, what?"

"Be specific, Thor." Loki stared at the wall, trailing his fingers on it as if to draw a pattern.

"Need I be more specific?" Thor eyed Loki, still tracing patterns on the wall.

"You're confusing at the moment." Loki whispered, but still heard. "Diminish whatever fears and thoughts you have of my predicament, Odinson. It does not suit you to look so worried for a frost giant such as myself. We hold no relations, so hold none for me as I do to you."

Thor caught a forced smirk on Loki's lips.

_Lies. _

"What brother isn't worried for his little brother?" Thor stared at him and it caused Loki to stop tracing patterns on the wall. "Despite not being blood, you are family."

"Don't flatter yourself." Loki laughed forcefully and in pain.

"I see it that way, Loki. You cannot change my sight of you."

"And you think I see the same way? You're more foolish than I thought you were. You think you're so bright and heavenly. It sickens me to see you that way." Loki turned to him. "Remember _brother_? You thought me dead and when you found out I was alive, what was the first thing that you told me?"

_Loki was lying to himself. _

_No..._

_Thor was also lying to himself._

_They both were._

_Both._

_Lies._

"You asked me where the tesseract was." Loki chuckled, still forcing himself to keep going. "What happened to, you're alive Loki? I've been searching for you everywhere? It has been a year since I last saw you!"

_Forcing himself to keep pretending. _

"Where was that desperate hope that I clung onto to be found, by you out of all people?" Loki stared at the wall and became silent only to speak again.

"What happened to being worried?" Loki spoke, desperate to let it all out. "You didn't care when you grabbed me by the neck and hauled me to that rock a few feet from the air. When you charged at me with your hammer and spat words of saving this retched world."

Loki closed his eyes.

"You know nothing."

_It was time to stop pretending.  
_

"Nothing of what I've been through." Loki murmured. "All you see is what you believe. Not what is real. Not what is reality."

_It was time to end it._

_Tired of it._

_No more._

_Stop._

"He wanted to be found." Bruce said. "So we can rule torture in some way, into it... The way he's acting seems like he's remembering something."

"Not yet." Hill leaned to the railing. "It's too early to say so."

"Is he having an episode?" Tony asked. "I mean, he's clearly talking about his pains. I'm sure as hell can hear it, can you guys?"

"He's recalling it, that's for sure." Natasha said. "He's right, we know nothing. Which is why we have to find out more and Thor is making Loki talk."

"Then we're right about him being the one to do this." Fury said with victory in his eyes.

"Don't be too sure." Clint said. "He could stop at any moment."

"Let's just hope Thor doesn't let Loki reach a dead end." Steve wished.

They all watched silently and Thor inched further to Loki, they ignored Tony's comment about the shipping of two brothers and listened intently. They saw Loki flinch and glare at Thor, who stopped his advances and stared at his brother.

Loki still sat there. The pillow still in-between them, like a barrier to prevent anything from happening. It pained Thor even more to see Loki inch away. He wasn't like that before, why was a simple touch, a gesture so horrifying to his brother.

Perhaps, it was because of the Other?

"Please Loki." Thor said. "Tell me, why do you think the tesseract was reacting the way she did. We got into another world and the tesseract surely had something to do with it."

"Perhaps it was fate." Loki shrugged indifferently. "Why should I care? It only prolongs my punishment, so I should be happy for it."

"This is getting us nowhere." Clint crossed his arms. "They're talking Bull! Damn it!"

"The tesseract has a mind of its own." Loki said unwillingly. "Hasn't Selvig already told you and the others that it obeys none? The tesseract is _real _and is on its own."

"He's talking in riddles." Natasha glared.

"It reacted to a stranger source, it is natural." Loki continued. "It is common. Something more powerful than the tesseract could have caused its sudden awareness and it may have warned you. Yet you ignored its warnings."

"Warnings?" Selvig wondered. "The flashing?"

"We wouldn't know." Bruce said. "We aren't sure ourselves how it works."

"I'm not so sure either." Selvig said. "It was Loki who guided us through everything, told us what we were supposed to do and my common knowledge only supported what he knew. He was practically the brain of it."

"What now?" Clint frowned.

Thor looked as if he had no other choice.

It was as if he was preventing himself from ever asking the _real _question because he feared that if he did, he himself might not believe it.

"Was it the _Other_?" Thor asked and Loki turned to him.

"What?" Loki blinked, shocked.

"Oh shit!" Tony almost jumped from his seat. They finally got a reaction from Loki that seemed similar to what they were thinking, from the theories that they had. It perked an interest in Loki and that was progress.

"Hill! Romanov! Barton!" Fury shouted. "I want this documented. I want a report of any information on this as precisely as it is. And Rogers, Stark, I want you ready if this goes down hill. Dr. Banner, we might need you if necessary."

"Sure." Bruce muttered, watching the screen.

* * *

**oOo**

"Is that why you are happy that you are away from them?" Thor continued, not wanting to. "You wanted to be free from them, is that why you care not for returning? Is it!?

"How?" Loki blinked again, Thor was half-shouting at him and it was unnerving. "H-how di-did y-you-?"

"It's true." He confirmed. "Loki why didn't you say anything?"

"You're wrong! YOU'RE WRONG! You know nothing you stupid foolish OAF!" Loki kicked but Thor was quicker and grabbed at his brother's bound wrists and pulled him away from the corner of the bed.

"UNHAND ME! YOU IDIOT!"

"NOT UNTIL YOU TELL ME THE TRUTH!" Thor shouted.

"WHAT TRUTH!? I always lie remember!? You said I lie! I keep lying! Why would I sprout truth for you! It's all a LIE!"

"I want to know what really happened when you fell off the bifrost!" Thor shouted, thunder reigned in the skies. "I want to know what had you changed and turned to someone cold-hearted!"

"It's a false memory!" Loki lashed out. "Cages bend, Thor! I will escape this and you will pay!"

"I will not let you go!"

"STAY AWAY FROM ME! Can you not leave me be? Aren't you satisfied that you have me bound and soon to be punished? What more do you want? You've already taken EVERYTHING FROM ME!"

"The things we cherished..." Thor breathed as he pinned Loki down.

"What about it?" Loki breathed out. "Do you not know that I've tried my best to stay sane!? Always dreaming of strangers to free me from my eternal abyss, but no, I was never allowed such _pleasure_ and _contentment_. It was always suffering and pain!"

"Aren't we going to break this up?" Steve asked.

"Not yet." Fury said. "As long as we get the information we need from Loki to confirm this other, then we're probably done."

"How long must I wait?" Loki's voice echoed on the speakers as they watched the two brothers. "Torn in time and eternity? Living is worse than death, Thor! Everything we had is a fracture of what once was. You know nothing of the life I've been living for centuries!"

"It is the song before it is sung, brother." Thor pleaded.

"Songs always sing about you and your glory and honor. Tales told of Loki were always vile and horrible! The day they sing my tales is the day Earth burns through my hands and the day Thor Odinson falls!"

"Tell me, Loki! ENOUGH OF THIS! ENOUGH!"

"You do not know what it was like! To become undone!" Loki cried out. "This is my breaking point, _brother_. I chose to die and you are still yet blind to everything around you. I let go because I wanted to die! And yet fate never allowed it!"

"What are you saying?"

"All my failures echo around me and there is nothing you can do." Loki breathed, tears spilling out. "You know nothing. You heartless bastard! You stupid oaf that calls himself my brother! You heartless, idiot! I HATE YOU! I wanted to die. Why can't you just kill me?"

"Because I can't."

"It wasn't hard when I tried to rule this realm! You never hesitated! Why now!? Why not end me!?"

"I cannot and will not do it, Loki! Now tell me. I have to know!"

Loki stayed silent as Thor continued.

"TELL ME IT WASN'T ALL YOU! Tell me that you were did not do it alone!"

"I fell. They found me." Loki muttered, eyes absent and watering. "No choice."

"Loki-" Thor breathed out tiredly.

"Agreed to everything." Loki closed his eyes. "But it was me, all me. My plan, my ideas, my army. They gave it to me. Everything was because of me. You cannot deny my reign of it all. It was theirs, not my choice but it was all me. And I am proud of it."

"By destroying a race?"

"By claiming authority!"

Loki glared and attacked Thor, who was kicked on the stomach that lead him to fall on the floor.

Thor looked up to see Loki in a sitting position, hand bound in front of him, glaring like an animal in a cage would. Loki's eyes stung of pain and misfortune and Thor could feel every resentment that Loki had.

"I hate you, and I wanted to see you burn!" Loki growled, tears falling to his cheeks. "You took all the glory, you took everything! I wanted to be like you! I wanted to prove to them that I can be someone! Just not this! I NEVER WANTED THIS! I never wanted the throne!"

"Loki stop-"

"I am TIRED! I'm TIRED OF EVERYTHING!" Loki cried as he lashed out at Thor, who tried to embrace him. Loki couldn't help but keep crying and it was painful, everything was painful.

"You know nothing- nothing-" Loki said like a mantra. "You know nothing."

"You're right, I don't-" Thor embraced Loki, who surrendered to the touch.

Loki was unable to move. The pain in his chest, was not yet recovered and the more he lashed out, the worse he got. He hadn't eaten in a while, almost a year and he ate few. He drank few and yet Thor knew nothing of it. Loki was even more pale than he was before.

He was breathing heavily and he clung to Thor like a life line, muttering "I hate you." without even meaning to.

Thor looked up at the camera, sending them a glare that it was enough.

They were done for the day.

Fury got the message and turned it off.

"That was intense." Tony chuckled awkwardly. "I thought for a second it was going to be kinky stuff right there when Thor pinned Loki to the bed."

"Stark-" Natasha warned.

Now was not the best time.

If you look around the room, all the Agents had gone back to what they were doing. The Agents ignored each other and all of them were pondering about Loki and Thor's situation. Their opinions didn't matter but they had rights to believe in what they will and what they saw at the moment changed their point of view.

Not enough to change everything and forget Loki's destruction on earth...

_Correction. _

The Chitauri's destruction on earth, but it was enough to lead them to a path of _Not_ being biased.

Bruce was rubbing at his eye, slight tears forming but not enough to fall. Clint was pondering on what Loki said about being _undone _while Natasha contemplated about the event, looking into it, she sensed no lies on both parts. Steve was doing his best to keep his strong composure still.

Selvig shifted from the balls of his feet and awkwardly pretended to stare at the ceiling while Hill leaned back on the railing and Fury stared at the Avengers.

"I guess we got our answers. Finally. There's action in there too... so... yeah."

Stark awkwardly fiddled with the Starkpad and laughed to loosen up the mood. It was too depressing for him and everyone stared at him strangely.

"What? I'm just trying to lighten the situation up."

"What's there to lighten up?" Steve stood up, annoyed. "You keep making a joke out of everything!"

"Hey! Who asked for your opinion you ass!?"

"Guys, please-" Bruce was about to break them up when Clint placed a hand on the doctors shoulder. Clint shook his head and allowed the the doctor to ease back into his seat.

The Avengers barely knew each other and they were all stressed. They didn't need to add up to this mess currently happening.

They were glad that the Agents ignored them.

"Why is everything a joke to you?" Steve asked. "It's not even funny! If you can't deal with anything emotional why are you even here? You're just a consultant to the Avengers, right? So why is Tony Stark here?"

"First of all, I can't leave because I'm in this damn world stuck with you! And for your information Tony Stark invented Iron man!"

"Like I said, you're just a big man in a suit of armor." Steve said without regret. "You can't fight on your own without it! So what use is there? You make jokes, you're the big guy, the rich man, but I know more people worth ten of you. Like I said, you're nothing."

"And you are?" Tony stood up in defense. "My dad created you with a bottle! If it weren't for him, you'd still be nothing! And dead for that matter."

"At least your father was better than-" Steve waved his hands at Tony. "This! Look at you! You're so confident of yourself that you don't even think of other people. I can see it! You're that kind of man that wants a show. To be the center of attention!"

"Who doesn't want to be?" Tony glared. "Perhaps I'm just lucky."

"Lucky to be like this!? You would end up lonely if you continue this up. Rich or not."

"Oh yeah? What would you know? You're a man out of time! Hell! What do you know about modern life!"

"Howard was unfortunate to have you as a son! You're so... self-centered and unable to grasp the situation!" Steve let out a frustrated sigh.

"Steve-" Natasha intervened. "We're all tired and cranky but you shouldn't-"

"So you're saying my dad was better than me!? Is that it!?" Tony shouted. "You know nothing about my goddamn Father! If you think he was nice, then try being his SON! He never gave time for me, you asshole! So what do you know about how I ended up the way I am!?"

"I know Howard! He wouldn't have let this happen. You're so confident that you can have everything in your way, but it's not going to be-"

"I know who I am and you can't change that!" Tony slammed the Starkpad on the the table. "I'm trying my best, just like you, like the rest of you to make this whole damn team work! I'm a solo man, I get that, but that doesn't change the fact that I care for people too! You may as well not see it, but I don't care for your opinion!"

"That's just it, you don't care." Steve said, losing himself to anger. "If we're going to be a team, we fly together on an idea. Not going solo."

"Then, you've found the wrong guy to be on your team. If you think I'm such a self-centered bastard, why the hell did I lay my life on the line when I shot that missile through that portal?" Tony gave Steve the finger and painfully laughed.

"Try getting your facts straight grandpa."

"Star-"

"Oh and for the record! You know _nothing _about me!"

Tony left the room, with a grand exit of saying the last words.

Silence.

It was true, they barely knew each other and they knew nothing. They didn't know what the trauma the other one has or what story they have. They can't picture it. They can't imagine it.

They knew nothing.

"I think we all need a break." Fury sighed and went back to monitoring the Helicarrier as if nothing happened.

"I shouldn't have said those things." Steve palmed his face and eased back on the chair. "I got so worked up, I shouldn't have done that. I shouldn't have-"

"One of us was bound to snap." Clint muttered. "We're all just tired."

"I should apologize to him." Steve was about to stand when Bruce stretched a hand out.

"Don't." Bruce said. "I don't think he'll talk to you. Actually, I know he won't talk to you. Tony has an ego, and if you brush it, it will be bad. But Tony has a heart, that much is true. He'll talk to you, but not now. He's too worked up."

"Give it time." Natasha crossed her arms. "It's barely been a few days. We haven't gotten that much rest."

"Go and get a break." Fury said from across the room. "We'll resume this when we're all settled."

"What about Thor and Loki?" Clint asked.

"Thor can handle himself. For now, we just wait." Fury said. "We need to get our facts straight, now is the best time to let it settle."

Bruce went to go talk to Tony and Steve walked away to be left in his room. Clint and Natasha took a coffee break, and went back to work. Thor and Loki remained in the room, as Thor discussed a few things with Loki. Loki was not happy with it, but complied all the same, he didn't tell Thor everything, not yet. Loki still didn't like where this was going, he still felt used and it pained him.

Selvig left the room, and went back to the tesseract.

The tesseract remained still, and suspiciously unmoving.

Somewhere in the other universe...

Thanos was restless.

* * *

**oOo**

**TBC...**

**Next chapter will be up soon. Please review and tell me what you think. Reviews fuel me to write faster and give a better idea of what I should do next.**

**So please, even a tiny review is appreciated.**


	5. Chapter 5 - Anxiety Attacks

**Thank you Mira SeverusSirius Black-Snape, .37, kittyhawk09, Guest, Hi, ASJoiA, Mallakai, AbsoluteMadness, Maia2, Child of Night, Odds are never in our favor, RozaLove, Nightshade's-Death.**

**WARNINGS: Spoilers for Iron Man 3. :D**

* * *

**oOo **

Tony couldn't sleep.

To be honest, he was having a hard time, especially when Steve's words had echoed inside his head all night long. It stopped him from being able to sleep. But that wasn't the soul reason at all, there was something else keeping him awake and it was the _nightmares _that plagued him ever since that day.

He used his phone to spy on everyone else, just to see what was going on.

Something to distract him.

_"Do you have anything?" _Natasha's voice sounded on his phone.

_"Just a bunch of interviews." _Clint replied.

_"Keep looking."_

_"You don't have to say it twice."_

Tony found out that Natasha and Clint were busy researching more about this world. It seems like Fury had an idea that any information was useful and since it was late, they were about ready to retire for the night.

_"Is everything alright? He looks knocked out." _Asked a deeper voice, Tony knew it was Fury.

_"He is tired from..." _Thor hated to say it. _"Crying, but he will be fine."_

_"Tired can be an understatement." _

"Or it could be spoken for itself." Tony muttered, knowing full well that nobody heard him.

It was so lonely in the room. He sat up straighter on the bed and eyed the room. They were all given small rooms, it sucked but it was worth it, he'd rather not complain. He didn't want to get into another fight. He'd had enough of it before, now he just wanted peace and quiet.

_"__Once he is rested, I am sure he will tell us more."_

Tony looked at the screen of his phone, it was such an odd angle for a camera. Thor and Fury were just outside of Loki's cell and were muttering very silently.

It was a good thing he had Jarvis still hooked up to Shield, otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to get an audio feed from the hallways.

Lucky him.

_"____I am finally seeing into my brother lies. Hopefully he will speak more and aid us in this battle."_

___"He has to, and because I demand it."_ Fury glared. _"____Was it really necessary to leave him like that? Without the muzzle."_

"Nice question Fury." Tony mumbled.

_"Leave my brother be, I doubt he will do anything." _Thor spoke to Fury without much force.

_"Are you sure he won't?" _Fury suspiciously asked.

_"He is tired and the remainder of his magic is slowly healing him, not enough to break out. The hand cuffs will stay but the muzzle will be taken off and not put back on. That is one way to earn his trust." _

_"That's agreeable." _Fury narrowed his eyes. _"You should rest. We've all had a big day."_

Thor had left an exhausted and emotionally disturbed Loki to rest in the cell. Tony typed in a few codes on his phone and the camera changed to the one in Loki's cell. It looked like Loki passed out from exhaustion.

Loki was lying on the bed sleeping heavily with the cover around him.

Must have been Thor, Tony thinks.

"Looks like the big guy's out of the count."

Tony shifted to another position, lying down facing the ceiling, his phone right above him.

Selvig had gone back to his room while Fury and the rest of Shield were awake and settling a few miscalculations in this weird overly rated _universe, _as Tony now deems it to be.

Tony never dared to look at what Steve was doing.

He shut off his phone and threw it to the side of his head as he lay there.

Why should he care?

He was Tony Stark, Iron man and just another of Shield's consultant. Steve didn't know about him, about how shield had been founded, how it was all his technology that somehow built shield to its finest.

They didn't know.

All they knew, was that Tony Stark was a drunk and sick twisted man with an ambition so low that he could get in at any time and anywhere he could because of his money.

That's what they think of Tony Stark.

They knew nothing.

Bruce on the other hand, had become a friend to him. He had retired early right after he spoke to Tony. Telling him to ease up and let the tension slide.

_"Tony, you should talk about it."_

_"There's nothing to talk about, Bruce."_ Tony sighed. _"We're a team sure, but that's over. It was as quick to be made as it was to be left. You were right, we're a wrong chemical mixture."_

_"I said that because-"_

_"You were right."_

Of course, with Tony being stubborn, refused to let it go and simply told Bruce that he was fine and it was time to leave the topic.

Bruce understood and happily obliged but was worried nonetheless.

The team looked like it was falling apart, despite it being formed together. They were still shaken up by the pains and the horrors of the war, surely they would have understood each other.

But no, they thought it was fine.

But it wasn't.

Tony couldn't sleep and the reality sunk in hard and wrong. It etched itself way too deep and he couldn't get it out, even if he clawed at it, the horror just stuck.

Tony tossed to the side, big day tomorrow.

* * *

**oOo **

They all settled in, well rested and contempt. They gathered again in the main room with more details about each other. Everyone was quiet, as if they had their own little secrets to hide.

Thor looked down and brooding.

It must have been because of Loki. They had checked earlier about Loki's condition and it looks as if he's still not recovering with his injuries and his magic barely gave him enough to heal himself. Loki was still unconscious in the cell and was yet to wake up.

"Don't worry, Thor." Natasha insisted. "Your brother will wake up soon and give us the help we need."

"Aye, but information is not what I worry for."

"It's fine." Steve smiled at him. "Loki will be safe and resting."

"I hope so."

Everyone was there, seated at the round table with their chairs facing the window screen again. It was morning and they've all had their morning meal. The Window was closed and dimmed to get a better view of the holographic screen projected towards it.

It had a few videos already put together.

Not in order.

How typical.

They were all there, except for Tony and Dr. Selvig. They knew that Selvig was down in the labs, calculating what could have gone wrong with the tesseract along with the other scientists that had a few run-ins with the cube.

And Tony?

They weren't sure.

"Where is Stark?" Fury asked.

"Probably in his room." Natasha said, leaning back on her chair. "Haven't heard from him since last night. None of us really bothered to check in."

"You think he's still being dramatic over yesterday?" Clint asked.

"I'm not happy either, but I'm here." Steve muttered, slightly disappointed at Tony.

"You have your obligations." Bruce justified. "Tony, has other things preoccupying his mind."

"We need his ass over here." Fury said sternly. "We've found a few interesting details about him."

"Wait. We're going to look over Tony's life this time?"

"As a matter of fact, yes."

"Isn't that invading his privacy?"

"Dr. Banner, if you must know there are a few threats targeting Stark that you do not know of. And we're just as curious as you are. Iron man had a full set of three movies, all starring him. We can't watch them all, but we're going to scan through some of them."

"We didn't watch it though." Clint muttered. "Takes of the suspense."

"I've experienced movie two." Natasha shook her head.

"I don't understand." Steve and Thor said.

"Alright, listen up." Fury stated. "Tony Stark seems to be more famous than any of us and therefore has three movies about his life. The first was his kidnapping in Afghanistan and his battle with his father figure Obadiah Stane."

"Father figure?" Steve scowled. "I've seen the report about Stark and Afghanistan but barely about this Obadiah Stane."

"He handled Stark Industries for Tony before." Bruce explained and later shrugged.

"I've seen it on the news."

"Movie number two was about Stark almost dying of Palladium poisoning in his chest." Hill announced, many were listening. "It had Director Fury and Agent Romanov in the scenes. Recruiting Stark, and Natasha was the one who evaluated Stark to be recruited or not."

"Much like what was done when you recruited the rest of us?" Thor wondered.

"Not exactly." Natasha crossed her arms. "Tony's a stubborn person, always drunk and had a knack for danger and self-harm. Which was why I evaluated him to be just a consultant and Iron man as an avenger."

"Isn't that wrong?" Bruce said in disbelief. "That's just- you're underestimating him in a level. He's two of the same guy. That's just putting down his whole being."

"He's an inventor." Fury said. "Not a fighter. Without Iron Man, he's screwed."

"So Stark is the brains?" Thor said and everyone else agreed.

"Stark had other enemies." Natasha said. "Pepper Potts, Stark's assistant and girlfriend, had Justin Hammer thrown in jail for the things he'd done in the Expo last year. He was a competition to Stark's Company."

"What about Ivan Vanko?" Clint chuckled. "He was a pain in the ass too right?"

"How do you know those things?" Bruce asked, wondering if they reported it with each other.

"I was assigned to Thor in New Mexico while Natasha was assigned to Stark." Clint explained. "We keep in touch."

"You were the one instructed to target me, yes?" Thor asked.

"Yeah. And I was rooting for you too."

"So this Ivan Vanko?" Steve asked. "What about him?"

"Revenge. Like all other villains." Natasha cracks her knuckles.

"What about the third movie?" Steve wondered, very curiously.

"That's just it." Fury spoke, seriously.

"What do you mean?" Bruce narrowed his eyes.

"The third one hasn't happened yet and we don't know anything about it. It happened right after the Avengers, so it's a crucial part to watch. We're not going to watch it all, just the important details."

"We've seen the important plots already." Hill spoke. "Stark has an enemy known as (_AIM) _or Advanced Idea Mechanics founded by Aldrich Killian."

"Someone Pepper Potts has worked with." Clint added to fill in the gaps.

"And we've already prepared a team to take them down, once we get out of this universe." Hill adds. "AIM has their eye on Stark, the President and Potts. So it's better prepared then never."

"What about the Mandarin?" Natasha informed them.

"You mean Trevor Slattery?" Clint laughs. "He's the guy acting the whole terrorist type. Yeah! What do we do when we get him?"

"We'll get there when we get there." Fury says.

"Stark has more enemies than us." Steve palmed his face. "Why am I not surprised?"

"Cut him some slack, Captain. I'm sure even Stark asks himself that question."

"Wait, if this is about Stark, why are we not calling him?" Thor wondered. "Why is he not here?"

"Good point."

* * *

**oOo **

Tony was inside his room. He had slept last night but it was quick. Visions of the Chitauri, blood and screaming got inside his head. He dreamt of the portal and darkness.

Falling.

So much Falling! He was falling! Falling. _Falling. _Dead. Died. Death.

He jolted from the bed and ran to the bathroom, coughing up his dinner or at least what was left of his dinner, if he had any.

All he had was water.

_"Calm down." _Tony thought to himself. _"You're fine. Okay- not fine."_

Tony coughed up more, feeling his throat hurt and his stomach completely empty.

He was done.

_"What's wrong with me? This shouldn't be normal."_

When he was done, he flushed and stared at the mirror. Sweat trailed down his neck and he opened the faucet, cleaning his mouth and brushing the water to his face.

_"Nightmares." _

Thanks to that day.

"You just had to be a hero." Tony told himself.

Tony tried to sleep again that night, only to end up in the same result, figuring out that it was keeping him awake and he feared it. It had a feeling of Afghanistan all over again and it hurt. He didn't want to try again for a third time.

"Oh god." Tony palmed his face. "Not again, damn it!"

He punched the pillow in frustration. Just because he rarely slept, doesn't mean he didn't want to sleep. He was tired, exhausted and he felt jealous that the Norse god that tried to take over New York got more rest than him.

But he had doubts that Loki had a great sleep either.

With all that twitching.

Tony wondered if he did that in his sleep too. But oh well, no need to worry about that right now.

"Nope." Tony sighed. "Not even gonna try to sleep this time."

He kept himself awake, tinkering with his phone, not wanting to leave the room and be seen.

In all honesty, he didn't want to talk to anyone. He just wanted to go back home, deal with his problematic nightmares quietly and confide with Pepper.

Yes. That was a good idea.

Go home.

Live life to the fullest.

If everything is fine, deal with it.

If he reaches a corner, he'll tell Pepper.

"Yeah, that's what I'll do." Tony sighed.

_Achievement?_

"Great stupid plan, Tony. Way to go."

He promised himself that he would and he was sure that he wouldn't have to deal with it. Morning came and he told one of the guys walking down the hall to get him a meal. Of course, who would deny Tony Stark and Tony was lucky because the guy looked like he was new and did as told.

Tony got his morning meal, but he still didn't want to go out.

He felt sleep overwhelm him again, not really sure why, but he had fallen asleep a few minutes later only to jolt again with the same nightmare.

_"It's really happening. There's no way out of this." _Tony breathed in. _"No way out."_

Falling. So much Falling. Darkness. Water. Blood and screaming. Drowning. Portal. Aliens. Kidnapping.

He saw himself shaking, eyes watering, breathing heavily and he just had to move.

_"Get out." _

_"Move."_

_"Don't waste your life, Tony Stark."_

_"Now the true history of Stark name will be written."_

_"You have no idea what you are dealing with!"_

_"Big man in a suit of armor, take that away and what are you?"_

_"Shield monitors potential threats."_

_"Stark we got a missile headed-"_

He stood up and coughed his breakfast up and down the toilet.

All he could think of was...

_Shit._**  
**

Today was the worst day of his life, because this was worse than a hangover.

* * *

**oOo  
**

"Do you think I should go check up on him?" Bruce said.

They weren't able to see what happened to Tony because they were playing it in real time, so all they saw was Tony stumbling out of the bathroom, sweaty and pale, while he brushed the towel to his lips.

Tony stumbled to the bed, sat down with legs apart and breathed quietly. He palmed his face and had both elbows on his knee as he leaned forward, as if he was sick.

"Think he's got a hangover from drinking?" Clint wondered.

"Let's just leave him be." Natasha said. "He doesn't look like he wants to cooperate."

"Alright, let's just start. Shall we?" Fury said as he disconnected the footage from Tony's room.

"He should be here for this." Steve muttered, a little annoyed still at the fact that Tony is bailing out on team activities and information gathering.

Sure he was a consultant but still part of the team.

And Steve seriously wanted to apologize.

"It's starting." Bruce prepared himself for the worst.

The screen dimmed and most of the Agents abandoned their work, nothing to do but fly the Helicarrier on autopilot. Most of the moving Agents stopped at their tracks to watch the screen.

"This better be useful." Clint said. "What's it about?"

"The Agents just took a few videos based on their title." Hill shrugged.

"That's information gathering?" Bruce almost laughed.

"It was the fastest instead of watching them all. We have no time."

"We're in a universe that is not ours, I believe we have all the time we need." Thor snorts but watches intently.

_The screen showed Colonel Rhodes and Tony in a public place. Tony was drawing or writing something to the two little kids. And Rhodey was whispering to Tony._

_"Listen." He leaned closer. "The pentagon is scared. After New York, Aliens, come on." _

"The Pentagon is scared?" Clint scoffed.

"Who wouldn't be?" Bruce muttered.

_"You need to look strong. Stopping the Mandarin is priority but-"_

_Tony looked as if he was losing himself already, then and there. The writing, the facial expression. It was calculating and complicated. Like he was ready to snap.  
_

Natasha and Clint were watching intently, and Clint glances at the corner of his eye the shadow in the upper levels. Also watching. Natasha notices him, glancing above and she immediately knew who else was looking into the situation.

A very good friend.

Or rather...

Their very good _Eye._

_"I-it's not-" Rhodey looked around, frantically._

_"It's not superhero-"_

_"No- frankly"_

_"Business. It's not." Tony said, writing fast._

_"It's American business."_

_"Said it-" And something snapped in what he was doing. "God.." Tony palmed his face and breathed out in frustration.  
_

"He just broke the crayon." Hill watched.

_"You okay?" Rhodey asked._

_"Broke the crayon."_

_"Are you okay Mr. Stark?" The little girl asked._

_"Take it easy." Rhodey said, rubbing Tony's shoulder._

_The world began to crush into Tony's space. His eyes widened and he felt a rush of air cut away from him. The little boy leaned forward and Tony was in a daze, troubled._

"What's happening to him?" Bruce asked.

"We're about to find out." Fury said.

_"How did you get out of the wormhole?" The little boy asked._

_Tony jumped from his seat and walked out. Running to his suit, muttering an apology as he held his heart. Breathing fast and entered the suit immediately. _

"What happened to Stark?" Thor was confused and he openly voiced it out.

"I don't see what went wrong." Steve said, just as confused. "The kid just asked him about New York."

"It's a trigger." Bruce muttered. "I don't- not sure but-"

_"Check the heart, check the- check the- is the brain?"_

_"No sign of cardiac anomaly or unusual brain activity." Jarvis answered him._

_"So I was poisoned?"_

"He did have a lot of enemies." Clint muttered.

"Could be." Natasha replied.

_"My diagnosis says you've experienced a severe anxiety attack."_

_"Me?" Tony asked in disbelief._

_Knock knock._

_"Come on man, this isn't a good look, open up."_

_"Sorry I gotta split." He pushed Rhodey out of the way and flew. Changing to a different scene, causing the video to end. _

"Stark has anxiety attacks?" Steve blinked in surprised.

"Trauma." Fury said. "Has anyone else seen him act up like that?"

"Not that we recall in battle." Clint answered. "No."

"Do you guys think this is because of what happened in New York?" Bruce asked.

"It could be many things." Hill said. "But I'm still surprised Stark could be associated with having anxiety attacks. PTSD was one thing, but this-"

"It's still plausible." Natasha answered. "We can't deny that."

"Are there more?" Thor wondered.

"There's more." Fury pressed another video.

* * *

**oOo**

"I think this might answer our questions. This is, after I think."

The_ screen showed Tony crossed arms wearing a grey and black training outfit. He also had a contraption to his forehead, a single lens on the left side. _

_"Nothing's been the same since new York." Tony said seriously as Pepper strode forward.  
_

_"Oh really?" She didn't look convinced. "Oh, I- I didn't notice that. At all."  
_

"That is Pepper Potts?" Thor asked.

"Yes Thor. That's her." Natasha answered for him. "She's Tony's girlfriend."

_"You experience things, and then they're over and you can't explain them?" Tony scowled. "Gods, aliens, other dimensions? I'm- I'm just a man in a can."  
_

"That's because he is." Steve said. "At least he knows that."

"You're still angry." Bruce turned to him.

"A little because- he doesn't understand but, at least I know that he somewhat does after all that's happened."

"Stark isn't dumb." Fury answered. "He knows what he's doing, despite the stupidity of it."

_And Tony began to move, the look on Pepper's face was calculating and the view shifted back to Tony. Moving his arms around and his voice trembled._

_"The only reason I haven't cracked up, is probably, because you moved in." He said. "Which is great. I love you, I'm lucky..."  
_

"I never knew him to be this open." Natasha narrowed her eyes. "Not even to Pepper."

"You've worked with him, haven't you?" Clint asked.

"I did. But I haven't seen this side of him. Just the cocky, stubborn, self-centered attitude. Not this. I've never seen this before."

_"But honey, I can't sleep."_

"He can't sleep?" Bruce's eyes widened. "I think I have something!"

_"You go to bed, I come down here. I do what I know. I tinker." He said as he sat on one of the small tables. "Threat is imminent. And I have to protect the one thing I can't live with out."_

_Tony pointed at Pepper._

_"That's you."  
_

"I never knew he had it in him." Natasha muttered. "He wasn't this open. Not even to her."

"What changed?" Steve asked.

_"And my suits they're a-"_

_"Machines"_

_"They're a part of me."_

_"A distraction."  
_

"I think I can understand." Bruce said, looking at the screen.

_Tony took a while before agreeing with a "Maybe." _

_And Pepper strode forward as Tony looked deep into her eyes as she embraced him. Tony looked like he gave up the battle and just settled with her being close to him. _

_"Tony? Tony... Tony wake up-"_

_The next few scenes showed Tony, remembering the portal. The chitauri. The Darkness and the falling. He jolted from his bed when Pepper screamed and the Iron Man suit held her, Tony acted swiftly disabling the suit._

_Leaving an angry and scared Pepper to sleep downstairs._

_Tony left alone on the bed, breathing heavily._

The Avengers who were watching as well as the other Agents felt a string being cut in their hearts. They never imagined Tony Stark to be caring and to be troubled. They always thought of him as a cocky, independent and stubborn person that would always have his way.

But they were wrong.

Tony Stark was a different person. He was human, just like the rest of them and he had limits. That was something they ignored and looked past at.

It was their mistake.

"Dr. Banner?" Fury turned to him.

"His Anxiety attack was triggered by the portal. He couldn't sleep because of it. And he's hiding that fact from all of us. The look in his eyes are haunted, speculating at every little thing. I may not be good at observing such behaviors but he's showing it clear as day. He's just hiding the fact from us because he doesn't think people will care."

"So the incident earlier, in his room?" Hill wondered.

"He must have fallen asleep, jolted in bed." Natasha scowled. "He doesn't know he has an anxiety attack. It hasn't been triggered yet."

"What is he having now then?" Steve asked.

"PTSD." Clint said.

"Meaning?" Thor wondered.

"Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. His past is coming back to haunt him. He may not be experiencing Anxiety attacks yet, but he's experiencing PTSD and that's bad."

"Stark wasn't checked yet." Fury scowled. "Neither were any of you."

"We're compromised but not like him." Clint frowned and crossed his arms. "We've taken way worse."

"All the more reason to keep Stark as a consultant?" Steve asked the million dollar question.

"We aren't sure yet." Fury said. "It could be a liability. He's good in the field, but now that you mention it. Stark could be bad when it comes to, himself. I mean-"

"Are there any more videos?" Bruce asked.

"There's more."

"Good."

* * *

**oOo **

Falling. Chitauri. Falling.

Tony palmed his face and decided enough was enough.

He hated hiding, so he walked out of the room not even caring of being seen. He just ignored everyone who stared at him. He knew he looked like a ghost but hell.

He didn't care anymore.

He entered the room and looked saw that everyone grew silent and unmoving.

"Why are you all staring?" Tony frowned and took a seat next to Clint.

"We didn't think you'd be here." Clint answered.

"Well, I'm here now. What are we watching."

"You." Bruce said. "Are you alright Tony?"

"Never better." Tony lied, Natasha saw through it.

Clint motioned his head to the upper floors and from the corner of Natasha's eyes, she saw a faint shift from above. The person moved and shielded himself from view even more.

"So we're watching me?" Tony would have laughed if it wasn't painful for him.

"I thought we were all about Loki yesterday, why are we tackling me all of a sudden? If it was because of yesterday, gods, guys, let it go. Sheeshh."

"It wasn't because of yesterday." Fury said. "It's just crucial to understand it."

"We're about to watch another video though." Steve said, and Tony ignored him.

"About what?"

"Iron Man 3." Thor smiled at him, earning one back.

"Play away."

"Tony, I don't think you should-" Bruce swallowed. "I mean, it's about you. Your future."

"And perhaps, it will help me. I've already missed a few but I'm fine. It was getting boring in that room anyways and I don't want to stay there forever. I need a different view. Bigger room. Not small. More people. Familiar faces. Get my point? So can we watch now? Or do I need parental guidance?"

They listened to every single word Tony said.

It already told so much about him.

He didn't like having nothing to do. He doesn't want to stay in one place forever. He hated small places. Probably claustrophobic from being in a cave for so long.

_"That giant wormhole..." A kid said, smiling. "In umm.. New York." _

"Wow." Tony said out-loud. "I did not expect this. Who's the kid?"

"His name is Harley." Clint muttered. "Saw it in the description."

_"Does it remind you?" _

_Tony was squinting and he looked like he forced himself to say something. To move. To breathe. He pressed his hands together and stared at the kid._

_"That's manipulative. I don't want to talk about it." _

"Something tells me I shouldn't have left the room." Tony leaned back on the chair, closed his eyes.

Everyone saw that Tony felt a little uncomfortable, and they now know the reason why. They just did their best to hide that fact.

_"Are they coming back? The Aliens."_

_"Maybe." Tony snapped. "Can you stop?"_

_The kid looked disappointed._

_"Remember when I told you, I have an anxiety issue?"_

_"Does this subject... make-make you edgy?"_

_"Yeah a little bit- can I just catch my breath for a second?" Tony scrunched his face up, trying to control himself. _

"Alright, can we just pause for a second." Tony tapped his fingers on the table and stared. "Why are we even watching this? This doesn't even relate to the tesseract."

"It relates to the future-"

"It doesn't mean anything to any of you!" Tony snapped at Fury.

"It means to us because we're a team." Steve said.

"Oh, so now I'm on the team. Make up your mind, Rogers. And I checked this info up last night, this movie doesn't even have anything to do with you guys."

"You checked it?" Bruce wondered.

"I watched parts of it, yeah. I barely payed any attention to it anyways." Tony looked away. "I was bored, a little edgy sure. So I watched to keep me entertained. Parts of it. Not everything."

"Entertained or Awake?" Natasha cocked her head to the side.

"What's the difference?" Tony said. "It doesn't pertain to any of you. So why bother in my personal space?"

"We're worried." Bruce said.

"That I'd end up being the bad guy, is that it?" Tony said. "Shield monitors potential threat, so I'm a threat. I get that. Whatever. Play it. I don't care anymore."

"What do you know Stark?" Fury asked.

"My problems. My issues. My life?" Tony narrowed his eyes. "AIM. The Mandarin. I searched it up okay. I'm not oblivious or stupid. Now play the goddamn thing. Or I'm shutting shield down."

"You can't do that." Steve said.

"Look. My father founded Shield, so I can do what I want. Just play the video. Watch as the great Tony Stark breaks down, that's all you want to see. A failure. Damn people."

"Tony. Where are you going?" Bruce watched as Tony stood up.

"Nowhere. Just play it, I want to stand up and leave because I see no fun in this place. I thought that if I joined you guys, well, let's just say I don't like joining you guys at the moment and I'm being a complete ass and jerk. You can't stop me."

With that Tony left.

_"Do-do you need a plastic bag? To breathe into-"_

_"Shhh..."_

_"Do-do you have medication?"_

_"Nope."_

_"Do you need to be on it?"_

_"Probably."_

_"Do you have PTSD?"_

_"I don't think so." Tony closed his eyes._

_"Are you going completely mental?" Harley asked and Tony began to panic. "I can stop- do you want me to stop-_

_"Remember when I said to stop doing that? I swear you're going to freak me out!" Tony's eyes were wide and his breathing almost choked off in his speech. "Aw! Man! you did it, didn't you!"_

_And Tony began to run until his legs failed him and he took a handful of snow and brought it to his face. Throwing it to the kid, later breathing out._

_"Your fault-"  
_

"We're making this too much of a big deal." Bruce said.

"Stark has PTSD and Anxiety attacks, he needs to be checked on." Natasha said. "We need to talk to him about it. Before we continue this."

"You're right." Fury said. "Any volunteers?"

* * *

**oOo **

While they were all busy trying to understand who Tony Stark really is. They don't know that inside Loki's cell, Loki was sweating badly and shivering. He was whimpering silently, trembling and fisting the sheets.

_"Sweet... Prince... paiiinnn... suff-erring..." _

* * *

**oOo**

**TBC..**

**Please tell me what you guys think! I need ideas. Please review, even just a tiny bit will make my day. :) Thank you again and I will update soon! **


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